IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  {MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


11.25 


la  Hi   ■2.2 


i:-  \m 

ill  1.8 


LA.  11 1.6 


<^ 


VI 


0> 


/a 


O 


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7 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiquet 

1980 


b^ 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  this  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


0 
D 
□ 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolordes,  tachet6es  ou  piqu6es 


Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serr6  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure) 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  iui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
dAfauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  h  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  not6s  ci-dessous. 


D 
D 
D 


D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 


Coloured  plates/ 
Planches  en  couleur 


Show  through/ 
Transparence 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag6es 


The 
pos 
oft 
film 


The 
con 
or  t 
app 

The 
filnr 
insi 


Mai 
in  c 
upp 
bot 
folli 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  supplimentaires 


Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  bibliographiques 


n 

D 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


D 
D 
D 


Pagination  incorrect/ 
Erreurs  de  pagination 


Pages  missing/ 
Des  pages  manquent 


Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartas  g^ographiques  manquent 


D 


Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


Q 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  supplAmentaires 


An  insert  which  accompanied  this  pamphlet  was 
filmed  following  page  35. 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  ^^  (meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 


Las  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  I'exemplaire  filmi,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la  der- 
nidre  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le  symbole 
V  signifie  "FIN". 


The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
institution: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  filmi  fut  reproduit  grAce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de  I'dtablissement  prdteur 
suivant  : 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Canada 


Maps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  Inft  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  dtre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  clich6  sont  filmdes  A 
partir  de  Tangle  supdrieure  gauche,  de  gauche  d 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  lo  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  m^thode  : 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

! 

6 

• 

'^, 


^  V 


FOREST  PROTECTION 


AND  TUB 

1i 


TARIFF  OK  LUMBER. 


SPIRIT    OF    THE    PRESS. 


NBW   YORK. 
1888. 


m 


^1 


J.   lii.         Ctyt-L  I  >■  >,  i  i,7if       k.  ii  -s.  \.  vC%.  i  ^  C        >  t 


.  >  >.  I.    1  >.  C'll  4.  C  •  <  >  (. 


ccmidcViXiicn  cj  tliesc   vaaec,  i/i   ir.c  ho^c  t':a:  .: 


il 


f idler  diccussicii  and  cciijy  ii7idjrc:a::Si::{'  of  :':c 
impcri.mcc    of    ciir     'ctcckC    nil'     'cad    tc    wise 


meaczircc  fcv  Fcvcct  (Prcce-rjatioiz. 


J 


Neiu  Yor'-:  City,  Jiiizzcary.  2S8C-. 


PUBLIC    OPIN'ION 


ON 


FOREST    PROTECTION 


AND    THK 


LL'M  BER    TARIFF. 


■ 


{From  the  McMiufe  of  PrcsitUni  Arthur.) 

The  condition  of  tlu'  loreHts  of  the  countrv,  and  tho  wasteful  manner 
in  which  their  destruction  is  takini?  jdace,  irive    cause   for  serious  ap- 
prehension.    Their  action  in  |»r<)te<tinu  the  earth's  surface,  in  modify- 
ing tlu  extremes  of  climate,  and  in  reufulatin.t;  and  sustaininj-;  the  flow 
of  si)ring8  an(t  stvenms,  is  now  well  understood,  and  their  importance 
in  relation  to  the  growth    and   prosperity  of   the  country   cannot  be 
safely  disregarded.     'I'hey   are    fast   disappearing    before    destructive 
fires  an<l  the  legitimate  re(iuirements  of   our  increasing  ])opulati(.n, 
and  their  total  extinction  cannot  be  long  delayed  w    ^'sbett-r  methods 
tlian  now  prevail  shall  be  adopted  for  their  protect luu  ..nd  cultivation. 
The  attention  of   Congress  is  invited   to  the   necessity  of   additional 
legislation  to  secure  the  preservation  of   the  valuable   forests   still    re- 
maining on   the  public   domain,  especially   in  extreme   Western 
States  and  Territories,  where   the  necessity  for  their  preservatic.n  is 
greater  than  in  less  mountainous    regions,  and   where  the  jtrevailing 
dryness  of   the  climate  renders        '\r  restoration,   if   they  are  once  de- 
stroyed, well-nigh  impossible. 


{FVom  Prof.  C/iarlen  iS.  ^Sarij( ut.  Director  oj  the  Arnold  Arhoreturn, 
Harvard  UuiKerfity  and  JSpecifd  Agtnt  hi  C/utrye  of  Foranlry 
IStatisticH  in  the  V.  >S.  Cemms. — North  Aiucricun  Jieviei''.) 

TIIK    I'ROTKCTION    OF    KOKK8T.S. 

Forest  preservation,  as  a  national  (piestion,  must  soon  «)ceupy  public 
attention.  I'lic  problem  involved  is  one  of  ^rave  import,  and  its 
solution  is  not  easy  and  cannot  be  inimediate.  The  part  taken  by  the 
forest  in  the  economy  of  nature,  and  its  relations  to  the  wants  of  man, 
are  complex,  and  tlu^  American  people  are  still  ignorant,  not  only  of 
what  a  forest  is,  but  of  the  actual  condition  of  their  own  forests,  and 
of  the  dangers  which  threaten  them.  The  future  prosperity  and  de- 
velopment of  the  country,  however,  are  so  largely  dependent  upon  the 
prcservatioTi  of  the  forest  that  these  lessons  will  in  time  be  learned, 
although,  judging  from  the  experience  of  other  countries,  tl-.ey  will  be 
learned  oidy  at  the  cost  of  calatnities  which  a  better  understanding  of 
the  subject  might  perhaps  have  averted. 

Fatal  inntads  have  already  been  made  into  the  great  pine  forest  of 
the  Morth  Atlantic  region.  Its  wealth  has  been  lavished  with  an  un- 
sparijig  hand;  it  has  been  wantoidy  and  stupidly  cut, as  if  its  resources 
were  endless;  what  has  not  been  sacrificed  to  the  axe  has  been  allowed 
to  perish  by  tire.  The  pine  of  New  Knglatid  and  New  York  has  al- 
ready disap))eared.  T'ennsylvania  is  nearly  stripped  of  her  pine,  which 
only  a  few  years  ago  appeared  inexhau.stible.  The  great  northwestern 
pine  States,  ]\Iichigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  can  show  only  a  few 
scattered  remnants  of  the  noble  forests  to  which  they  owe  their  greatest 
prosperity,  and  which  not  even  self-interest  has  saved  from  needless 
destruction. 


The  belt  of  red-wood  forest  along  the  California  coast  has  already 
suffered  severely  at  the  Iriinls  of  the  lumberman,  and  many  of  its 
finest  and  most  accessible  tr»  es  have  already  been  removed.  A  large 
amount  of  this  valuable  timber  is  still  standing — less,  however,  than 
has  generally  been  supjiosed  ;  and  at  the  present  rate  of  consump- 
tion the  commercial  importance  of  this  forest  will  have  dir>appeared 
at  the  end  of  a  few  years  more. 


) 


'Uin, 


Htr}/ 


fn  Proff-amr  Srirt/ent^s  papa;  read  hefore.  the  Mussarhusetfn  State 
Hoard  of  Aifrimlture^  the  follooiing  itnportant  afatetnent  respecting 
the  white  pine  in  made : 

Tlie  entire  supply  (white  j)ine)  i^rowiiij^  in  the  United  States  .-vnd 
ready  for  the  axe,  does  not  to-d:iy  gieatly,  if  at  all,  exceed  S0,(»()(),0()(),o()() 
feet,  and  this  estimate  includes  the  small  and  inferior  trees,  which  a 
few  years  at^o,  would  not  luive  been  considered  worth  c;)nntin<^. 
The  annual  production  of  this  lumber,  is  not  far  from  lo,()()(t,O0(),O()() 
feet,  and  the  demaiul  is  constantly  and  rapidly  increasing. 

The  publication  of  these  ficts  a  few  months  ago  has  greatly  in- 
creased, and  in  some  cases  more  than  doubled,  the  value  of  piiu' 
lands;  and  it  does  not  recjuiri'  any  j)articular  powers  of  foresight  to 
be  able  to  predict  that  the  jtrice  must  a<lvance  to  still  higher  figures. 
Enough  is  now  known  to  permit  the  positive  statement  that  no 
great  unexplored  body  of  this  pine  remains;  and  tliat  with  the  ex- 
ception of  che  narrow  red-wood  belt  of  the  California  coast,  no  North 
American  forest  can  yii'ld  in  quantity  any  substitute  for  it. 


) 


) 


{The  iVetn   Yor/i  'J'hncx,  Ihr.  ;io,  1SS2.) 

The  Tariff  Commission,  for  some  reason  which  they  have  not 
th(mght  fit  as  yet  to  explain,  made  no  change  in  the  lumber  schedule. 
They  left  the  tax  on  sawed  boanls,  planks,  deals,  and  other  lumber 
of  hemlock,  white-wood,  sycamore,  and  bass»wood  as  they  fouiul  it, 
$1  per  thousand  feet,  board  measure.  They  also  left  the  duty  on  all 
other  articles  of  sawed  lumber  at  ^2  per  thousand  feet,  board  measure. 
As  shown  by  a  correspondent  in  another  column,  the  amount  of  sawed 
lumber  imported  in  IHBli  was  about  Ul(),0()(),000  feet,  of  which  less 
than  7  per  cent.,  or  4(),()(Hi,()00  fei't,  consisted  of  the  kinds  above 
enumerated,  i.  e.,  of  hi-mlock,  white  wood,  sycamore,  and  bass-wood, 
while  the  remainde.r  consisted  almost  altogether  of  white  pine  and 
spruce.  The  duty  on  the  40,0(10,000  feet  was  *l  per  thousand  feet, 
an  average  of  about  12  per  cent.;  the  duty  on  the  "other  lumber " 
WJis  $2  per  thousand,  or  an  average  of  nearly  18  per  cent.  *  *  *  * 
White  pine  and  spruce,  though  nu>re  costly  than  hemlock,  are  still 
cheap  woods.  'IMiey  are  the  raw  material  of  the  greater  pirt  of  the 
building  trade.  They  furnish  the  Hoorings,  the  doors  and  window- 
sashes,  the  stair-wsiys,  the  outer  approaches,  the  outer  covering  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  houses  of  wood  erected  all  over  the  country.     They 


A 


enter  in  the  saine  way  itito  the  (onstniction  of  all  outl>uil<liiigN,  Itariin^ 
shedH,  stables,  of  tlu'  sliops,  stort's,  and  work-hiiildin^H  of  tlio  conntry 
and  stnalU-r  towns  and  villairi's.  They  arc  used  oxfj-nsivcly  in  tht' 
c'onsl  ruction  of  vessels,  uK|ieeially  for  inland  and  river  naviuation,  an«l 
for  vehicles  of  tratisportalion.  They  are  the  material  of  the  tables, 
bedsteads,  and  furniture  of  the  laborini;  classes  and  of  those  in  ino<irrate 
circumstances.  They  are  thus  an  indispensable  elenu'Ut  in  the  cost  of 
liviuij,  of  agricultural  ami  other  labor,  of  trade  and  transportation. 
The  tax  on  them  is  paid  by  the  consumer,  '  ••  the  conipetition  at 
home  is  usually  suHiciently  limited  to  secure  th:i  result,  and  it  is  levied 
exclusively  for  tl)e  benefit  of  tlie  pine  and  spruce  lumbermen. 

At  the  same  moment  that  this  is  being  d<»ne,  the  Government,  which 
im]>oses  this  arbitrary  tax,  is  cnirag«'d  in  costly  researches  and  ex- 
periments to  dieck  the  wanton  waste  of  pri'cisely  these  materials,  to 
induce  the  lumbermen  to  adoi)t  more  intelliiifent  and  economical 
methods,  and  to  promote  the  growth  of  trees,  because  the  fact  is 
established  bt-yond  all  tjuestion  that  the  consumption  is  far  outrunning 
the  natural  suppi}'.  This  is  so  true  that,  as  our  eorrespoudent  points 
out,  Prof.  Siirgent,  in  charge  of  the  census  statistics  for  this  interest, 
warns  the  country  that  the  total  estimated  supply  in  the  Ignited  States 
cannot  at  the  present  rate  of  consum])tion  last  more  than  eight  years. 
In  other  words,  to  enable  the  lumbermen  to  obtain  a  higher  price  for 
woods  which  they  an-  rapidly  exhatisting,  we  tax  imported  woods 
which  in  eight  years  will  be  our  sole  dependence  for  one  of  the  most 
important  necessary  articles  in  use.  This  is  protection  run  mad.  It 
is  one  of  many  instances  in  which  Congress,  under  the  pretense  of 
protecting  American  labor,  imjtoses  a  t!'.^  on  the  livelihood  of  Ameri- 
can laborers.  Nothing  can  be  plainer  th;in  that,  iusti'ad  of  compell- 
ing our  people,  by  an  import  duty  on  foreign  lumber,  to  u<e  more  of 
our  limited  and  fast  disappearing  supply,  we  should  admit  such 
lumber  free  of  dui  v.  *  -i:  *  *  *  * 


(7'//c  .\'(^/"    York-    World,  Xew    VorA;   iJcccuihe)' 'M).) 

Professor  Sargent,  of  Harvard,  showed  in  his  recent  article  on  our 
forests,  in  the  North  Anierieitn  Jievieir,  the  necessity  of  taking  some 
immediati' ste|)s  for  their  preservation.  As  a  first  step,  it  is  evident 
that  the  duty  on  Canadian  lumber  ought  to  have  been  removed.  We 
impose  a  tax  of  |S^  per  1,000  feet  on  lumber  entering  the  United  States 


^ 


Fr«)in  Caiiiid;  ,  and  this  duty,  of  courKt.',  instt'ftd  nf  |ti<itt'(tiiijr  ihv 
foresrs,  serves  as  a  houiity  for  the  rap'ul  destruclioii  of  them.  It 
takes  ^2  out  of  tliO  pocket  of  every  man  who  Imys  1,1)00  f«'et  of  him- 
l»er  and  hands  it  over  to  the  lumher  manufacturers  of  Chi'-a.^o  and  the 
Northwest  wliom  a»id  whom  only  it  (h)es  protect.  Tht's*'  lumhermen, 
as  they  very  eU-arly  ^l»owe«i  when  they  went  before  the  Tariff  Com- 
mission to  <lemand  still  more  protection  and  en<'oura«;ement  in  cutting 
down  such  of  the  pine  forests  as  still  remain,  are  as  <rreedy  and  sluirt- 
sij;ht(Ml  a  class  of  leeches  as  even  our  ridiculous  tariff  has  develope<l. 
They  will  not  easily  let  «;<»  their  hold,  hut  tlu'y  are  not  so  nuiuj'rous  or 
so  powerful  as  to  offer  an  effective  resistance  to  the  friends  of  tariff 
reform  in  ('on«^ress,  if  the.se  will  work  tofjjether.  The  public  miscliief 
the  lumbermen  do  is  so  patent  and  so  serious  that  there  shouhl  be  no 
difficulty  in  i^i'ttinj;  this  special  ai>omination  removed  from  the  tarifl' 
durinj;  the  present  session  of  ('onjjiress. 


I 


(77t(  Sim,  \>'>r   York,  iMumber  ;}l,  18H'i.) 

TIIK    TARIFF    ON    Ll.MnKK. 

The  TariflF  Coranussion  does  not  recommend  any  change  of  impor- 
tance in  the  present  s(diedule  of  <luties  upon  imported  iuntber.  Under 
the  law  there  is  a  duty  of  one  <lollar  per  thousaiid  feet  upon  hemlock, 
whitewood,  sycamore,  :nnl  l»asswood  luml)er,  and  two  dollars  upon  all 
other  varieties  of  sawed  UunbcM'  entering  the  I'^nite*!  States.  No  sawed 
lumber  is  imported  into  the  United  States  excejit  from  Canada,  so  that 
this  law  operates  (udy  so  far  as  Canada  is  ccuurerned.  Canada  cannot 
send  us  sycamore  or  white  wood,  for  the  reason  tliat  she  has  none  t<) 
send;  and  we  do  not  require  Canadian  Iiendock  or  bass-wooil.  It  is  not 
apparent  why  those  words  are  mentioned  at  all,  except  for  the  pur- 
pose of  disguising  the  real  meaning  of  the  law,  which  was  intend(>d  to 
i'heck  or  prevent  the  introduction  of  Canadian  white  pine  and  spruce 
into  our  markets  ;  and  this  is  done  for  thi'  benefit  of  indivi<iuals 
maimfacturing  a  similai-  class  of  luml)er  in  the  Utiited  States. 

Pine  and  spruce  are  articles  of  prime  necessity;  they  enter  int<)  the 
construction  of  all  our  buildings,  and  our  forests  afford  no  substitute  for 
these  woods.  It  is,  moreover,  now  well  known  that  the  supply  of  white 
pine  and  spruce  in  the  United  States  has  l)een  greatly  reduced,  and 
that  the  speedy  and  entire  extinction  of  our  forests  r)f  thes*'  trees  can 
be  safely  predicted. 


8 


Public  attention  has  been  called  to  the  necessity  for  forest  protection; 
the  subject  has  been  widely  discussed,  and  its  importance  is  known. 
Instead  of  husbanding  our  own  forest  resources,  however,  and  allowing 
our  neighbors  across  the  boundary  to  cut  their  forests  for  our  benefit, 
we  continue  to  impose  the  duty  of  two  dollars  a  thousand  feet  on  all 
pine  and  sj)ruce  entering  the  United  States;  that  is,  we  take  that  amount 
from  the  pocket  of  every  perscm  using  one  thousand  feet  of  these  j)rirae 
necessities  of  life  and  pay  it  to  the  lumbermen  as  a  bounty  to  induce 
them,  not  to  protect  our  forests,  but  to  destroy  them  with  (juitc  unneces- 
sary rapidity  and  waste. 

The  arguments  wliich  have  been  used,  and  which  will  be  brouTlit 
forward  aijain  l)v  the  representatives  of  the  lumber  industry  of  (he 
Northwest — for  the  exclusion  of  Canadian  lumber  is  urged  in  no  other 
part  of  tlie  country — do  not  interest  the  general  public.  The  ])eople 
want  a  constant  and  reasonably  cheaj)  supply  of  lumber;  they  want  to 
know  that  the  forests  of  the  country  are  not  unnecessarily  destroyed; 
but  they  are  indifferent  whether  a  local  bt)dy  of  selfish  manufacturers, 
already  I'liormously  rich,  became  still  richer  at  the  expense  of  the  gene- 
ral prosperity  of  the  country. 

'J'he  present  Congress  will  certainly  neglect  one  of  its  most  important 
duties  if  it  fails  to  provide  means  for  the  better  protection  of  the  forests 
of  the  country.  Tlie  first  step  in  tliis  direction  which  will  be  followed 
by  immediate  and  tangible  results  is  to  place  sawed,  hewn,  and  square 
timber  upon  the  free  list. 

We  urge  tlie  consideration  of  this  subject  up  )n  the  Committee  of 
NVavs  and  Means. 


{The  Evetnntj  l^ont,  Xeio    York,  Ja/inan/ 2,  lH8\i.) 

THE    TAUll'F    ox    LUMDER. 

There  is  the  l»est  statistical  authority  for  the  statement  that,  if  the 
]»resent  rate  of  consuinj)tion  of  lumber  continues,  the  entire  supply  of 
white  pine  growing  in  the  United  States  will  be  exhaiisted  in  eight 
years.  As  our  ])opulatioii  increases,  our  industries  expand,  and  our 
settlements  spread,  it  is  certain  tliat  the  consumption  of  lumber  of  all 
kinds  will  not  only  not  deciease,  but  grow  considerably  larger.  It  is 
no  less  certain,  therefore,  that  if  the  (piantity  of  white  pine  consumed 
be  entirely  drawn  from  our  home  supply,  or,  at  least,  in  the  same  pro- 
I'ortion  as  at  present,  that  home  supply  will  be  exhausted  in  less  tlian 


9 


eight  years, ospecially  as  a  vast  deal  of  wanton  destruction  <»f  trees  by 
improvident  lumbermen  and  by  fires  goes  along  with  th<*  regular  eon- 
sumption  in  a  business  way.  What  is  true  of  the  white  pine  is  more 
or  lerts  true  of  every  other  kind  of  timber.  There  is  not  the  least  par- 
ticle of  exaggeration  in  the  prediction  that,  if  we  continue  to  drrav  on 
our  timber  resources  at  the  present  rate,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  will,  in  less  that  twenty  years^  not  only  depend  for  tlie  neceej- 
sary  supjdy  of  lumber  to  cover  their  current  wants  entirely  upon  foreign 
countries,  but  our  country  will  l)e  almost  completely  stripped  of  its  for- 
ests. What  the  conserjuences  of  s'tch  a  condition  are  every  well-informed 
person  knows  ;  dried-uj)  springs  ;  destructive  Hoods  at  one  season  of 
the  yeai',  dry  river-beds  at  another;  jjarched  fields  ;  once  fertile  plains 
turned  into  deserts.  We  can  seethe  lesson  illustrated  in  Spain  and  in 
the  ruined  countries  of  Asia.  This  will  be  our  inevitable  fate  unless 
the  suicidal  course  we  are  now  pursuing  be  i!itopi)ed. 

What  are  we  doing?  We  are  levying  a  tarifl'  duty  not  only  on 
articles  manufactured  out  of  wood,  such  as  furniture  and  wheel  hubs, 
and  staves  and  the  like,  but  on  sawed  boards  and  hewn  tind)er  and 
other  things  that  may  j)roperly  be  called  raw  material.  What  is  the 
object  of  this  tariff  duty  ?  Scarcely  to  raise  revenue,  for  the  stun  of 
money  flowing  into  the  Treasury  from  this  source  is  compnratively 
small,  the  duty  being  high  enough  to  prevent  large  importations. 
The  object  is,  by  impeding  foreign  competition,  to  enable  liind)ermen 
to  cut  and  saw  tind)er  at  a  tempting  profit  ;  lo  protect  and  encourage, 
not  the  manufacturing  of  house  furniture  and  caliinet  wa'  e,  and  wagon 
boxes  and  band  staves — for  those  branches  of  industry  would  be 
encouraged  most  by  cheapening,  not  by  increasing  the  jtrice  of  the 
raw  material — but,  lo  protect  and  encourage  the  cutting  and  sawing 
up  of  trees,  and  thus  the  rapid  destruction  of  the  forests  within  our 
own  boundaries.  We  ])revent  the  British  possessions  north  of  us  from 
furnishing  from  tlu'ir  abundance  the  raw  material  to  our  manufactor- 
ies, thus  obliging  our  neighbors  to  keep  their  forests  comparativcdy 
intact,  while  we  insist  upon  swei'ping  away  (jiir  own.  In  otiu'r  words, 
we  pay  to  the  lumbermen  a  prenuum  for  the  devastation  of  our 
country. 

These  facts  are  so  plain  and  patent,  and  the  disastrous  consequences 
are  so  obvious,  that  it  would  seem  the  mere  statement  of  them  must 
convincre  every  sane  man  of  the  imperative  and  immediate  necessity 
of  changing  our  )>olicy.  It  is  not  a  matter  that  will  l)rook  delay  from 
year  to  year,  for  if    we  persist  in  our  present  course,  our  middle-aged 


10 

iiK'ii  will  surely  sim  liictiiiu'  wlu'ii  tlte  tMsi*  ix  past  n-iiUMly.  VV«' sIkmiM 
nitlit'i'  pay  a  bounty  to  every  ii'iporler  of  sawed  boards  and  liewii 
timlier  than  impose  a  duty  upon  those  articles.  Only  the  Tarifl"  C'oni- 
inission  did  not  si'c  ihe  pre-sintr  iieed.  It  thoui;ht  that  this  was  too 
Hourishins^  an  industry  to  he  disturl>e(l  hy  the  witlnhawal  of  encourag- 
ing protection.  The  preiniuni  on  the  devastation  of  tlu-  eountiy  is 
therefore  sustaiiu'd.  Hut  may  we  not  at  least  hope  that  son>i'  men 
may  he  found  in  Congress  to  rt' 'OoiMze  an<l  urge  ujton  their  colleagues 
the  ni'cessity  of  immediate  ;ind  sweeping  action  'i  The  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  recommends  oidy  a  jtartial  and  insiginticant  reduc- 
tion of  the  (hjty.  It  is  evident  that  in  this  case  nothing  will  do  short 
of  placing  the  raw  material,  such  iis  sawed  boards,  hewn  aiul  scpiared 
timber,  etc.,  on  the  free  list.  Of  cotirse,  there  will  be  the  usual  screech 
against  this  indispensable  measure  of  protection  on  the  part  of  the 
lumbering  interest.  But  can  the  American  peo))le  aflford  to  sacrifice 
an  essential  condition  of  the  future  ]»rosperity  of  tlie  couiitry  to  the 
destru<'tlve  irreed  of  a  few  lumbermen  ? 


(.Itul  cifftfin,  JfdiU'iri/  0,  1   SJi.) 

Lei  us  now  see  what  they  did  with  regard  to  those  kinds  of  tind»er 
and  lumber  whidi  can  be  imported  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States.  Pine  and  spruce  lumber  to  tlie  amount  i»f  o7f), ()()(),()(»()  feet,  in 
round  numbers,  was  imported  into  the  United  Stntes  during  the  last 
fiscal  year.  The  Government  received  less  than  !!5l,'J(i(i,(»iii)  in  duties 
upon  this  lumber. 

Pine  and  spruce  lumber  to  the  amount  of  11,()()(),0()(»,()00  feet  was 
matnifactured  in  the  United  States  during  the  past  year.  The  pur- 
chasers of  this  domestic  lumber  paid  a  duty  of  ^22,0()(),itO() — not  to 
the  Government,  but  to  the  manufactarers  of  lumber  ;  that  is,  the 
great  sum  of  §'2'_',()()(i,(>0()  was  taken  from  tlu'  growth  and  pros[»erity 
of  the  country,  and  ]>aid  to  a  few  manufacturers  of  lumber.  It  is  not, 
then,  surprising  that  the  manufacturers  resist  all  attempts  made  to  re- 
move this  duty.  Pine  and  spruce  hnnber  are  necessities  of  our  civili- 
zation, but  the  reduction  in  price  which  would  follow  the  I'emoval  of 
the  duty  would  probably  not  greatly  stimulate  their  consumption. 
Certainly,  looking  at  the  subject  in  the  light  of  the  necessity  of  forest 
preservation,  the  danuvge  done  to  the  forest  by  increased  consumption 
would  be  nn»re  than  offset  by  the  effect  which  thi'  admission  of  Cana- 
dian bimber  would  have  in  sparing  our  own  forests. 


11 


11(1     lu'Wii 

ill  (\.„i- 

\v;is  too 
iiL'oiira^- 

iintry  Ik 
>nic   iticti 

llt'Htriies 
nitft'i'  of 
t  rcdiic- 
<lo  sliort 

scjuart'd 

1  scret'ch 

\   of   the 

sacriHci' 

y  fo  tlu' 


f  tiniljiT 
United 

>  fcc't,  in 
the  la><t. 

in  (luiies 

lei't  was 
riie  pur- 

—  TU)t  to 

t  is,  the 
DSperity 
I  is  not, 
\e  to  IV- 
ir  civili- 
loval  of 
inption. 
•f  forest 
imption 
f  Cana- 


Tlu'  roniovai  of  this  duty  is  soniethin^  inoif  tiiaii  a  <|iicsti(>ii  <if  five 
trade  or  protection.  Its  importance  must  not  hi'  measured  by  the  ad- 
vantages of  cheap  or  dear  lumber  for  the  consumer,  important  as  this 
(jueslion  is,  nor  by  its  effect  npon  the  manufacturer.  Il  means  pro- 
tection or  destruction  of  tlie  forests,  and  thi-  destruction  ol  ilic  fori'sts 
means  a  yreat  natit>nal  calamity. 

This  matter  cannot  be  postponed  ;  our  forests,  as  has  been  shown, 
are  rapidly  s^vejit  away  by  the  drains  now  made  upon  them.  They 
iruist  be  relieved,  and  their  only  possible  relief  is  foutid  in  Canada. 
The  ti22,(K)(),000  which  the  tarilY  takes  from  the  pockets  of  the  con- 
sumers of  lumber  is  unimportant  in  comparison  with  tJie  indirect 
damaji;e  tliis  tariff  causes  to  the  country  by  liastening  the  destruction 
of  the  forests.  VV^e  must  lof»k  (his  matter  clearly  in  the  face  ;  we 
must  not  deliberately  allow  our  forests  to  be  destroyed,  and  entail 
upon  ourselves  and  our  children  all  the  evils  which  their  destruction 
will  bring,  merely  to  make  a  few  lumbermen  rich.  On  this  one  point 
tariff  reformers  and  protectionists  can  well  meet  on  tlie  common 
ground  of  public  necessity.  The  future  prosperity  of  tlie  country  is 
at  stake  ! 


(77(6  EcenliKj   /'out.) 

PROTECT   THK    FOKKSTS. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  protectionist  friends  will,  at  their  meeting 
to-night,  say  something  on  the  subject  of  forest  protection.  This  is 
one  of  which  all  can  unite  in  urging  upon  Congress  the  immediate 
necessity.  As  the  Metropolitan  Industrial  League,  a  truly  protectionist 
organisation,  most  pertinently  says,  "It  seems  so  unnatural  that  we 
should  consuu)e  ourselves  [meaning  our  forests  |  first,  and  then  depend 
upon  the  chance  generosity  of  <tthers,  that  the  free  admi8ist>n  of 
timber  is  recommended  " 

The  white  pine,  that  has  in  the  past  furnislu'd  nearly  the  whole  of 
our  timber  su|)plies,  and  is  now  furnishing  al>out  one-half  (according 
to  Profes.sor  Sargent),  will  cease  to  exist  if  tlie  present  destruction  of 
it  is  kept  up  for  eight  years  longer. 

Our  own  State  of  New  York,  which  thirty  years  ago  swp])lied  one- 
half  of  the  ei\tir»'  production  of  the  United  States,  is  now  dependent 
wholly  for  its  suj)ply  of  this  wood  on  Canada  and  the  lower  peninsula 
of  Michigan,     'i'he  latter  has   so    far  exhausted    its    supply    of    this 


Ill 


12 


timber  tliat  it  in  elaitncd  from  invost illation  tliat  four  years  more,  at 
tlie  present  rate  of  euttiiig,  Avill  exhaust  the  wliole  stock. 

Whatever  difference  may  exist  as  to  the  ])ropriety  <"f  protecting 
other  interests,  there  can  be  none  patriotically  urged  against  the  pro- 
tection of  tlie  remnant  of  our  pine  forests.  While  taking  care  of 
favored  industries,  the  advocates  of  high  tariff  duties  sliould  aid  the 
pcuplc  at  U'ast  in  securing  tliis  crumb  of  l»encticent  protection  for  so 
imjiortant  a  general  interest,  by  recoinmen<ling  the  striking  off  of  the 
duty  oil  lumber  and  all  kindred  duties  which  eJicourage  the  devasta- 
tion of  tlie  country. 


{Kansas  Citi/  Times,  Jannarij  ;i,  188M.) 

THE    TARIFF    ON    LIMHKR. 

No  change  will  be  made  \v  the  tariff  on  lumber.  The  <luty  is  $2  per 
1,000  on  pine  and  %\  on  hemlock,  basswood  or  lin,  as  it  is  called  here, 
and  other  soft  woods.  Lumber  is  used  by  every  farmer  who  must 
build  himself  a  house  or  fence  his  farm.  Why  should  it  be  taxed? 
No  country  brings  lumber  lure  but  Canada.  The  pine  timber  there  is 
practically  inexhaustible,  while,  i(  is  said,  the  pineries  in  Michigan  and 
Miimesota,  and  also  in  the  eastern  states,  are  rapidly  becoming  ex- 
hausted. Why  not,  when  the  new  farms  are  being  settled  up  and  the 
l»eople  poor,  let  them  get  hnnber  as  cheaj)  as  possible?  Soon  our 
pineries  will  be  used  up  and  then  W"'  will  be  dej)eiident  altogether  on 
a  foreign  supply. 

Great  <juantities  of  saw  logs  were  cut  in  Canada  and  brought  to  the 
IJniteil  States  to  be  cut  into  lumber,  but  when  the  tariff  was  put  on 
Canadian  lumber  that  go\ernment  retaliated  by  putting  an  export 
duty  on  saw  logs,  so  that  the  business  of  importing  logs  was  killed. 
The  price  of  lumber  here  weilt  up  two  dollars  ]»er  thousand  as  soon  as 
the  tariff  went  into  effect,  so  the  Canadians  got  the  old  price  for  their 
lumber,  and  the  jx'ople  here,  who  are  trying  to  make  the  country,  are 
absolutely  robbed  of  that  amount  on  each  1,000  feet  of  pine  lumber 
they  buy.  The  United  States  treasury  don't  want  the  money.  It  only 
enhances  the  price  of  lumber  to  a  business  the  most  lucrative  and  |»ro- 
fitable  in  the  country,  and  certainly  opjiresses  the  farmer  in  getting 
comfortable  buildings.  Of  all  senseless  tariff  regulations  this  is  the 
most  senseless. 

Lumber  is  an  article  no  farmer  can  do  without.  The  first  settlers 
in  any  new  locality  have  to  live  in  any  kind  of  habitation  they  can 


13 


<  more,  at. 

protecting 
st  the  pro- 
'_C  <ar{'  of 
<1  aid  the 
•  111  for  so 
off  of  the 
devasta- 


y  is  $2  per 
lied  here, 
who  must 
he  (axed? 
M-  there  is 
li^an  and 
)niing  ex- 
p  and  the 
Soon  our 
<j:ether  on 

fht  to  the 
as  put  on 
m  exj)ort 
as  killed. 
8  soon  as 
for  their 
ntry,  are 
e  lumber 
■.  It  only 
and  pro- 
getting 
is  is  the 

settlers 
they  can 


get — sod  houses,  diig-ouls,  tents,  every  kind  of  sul)stitute.  Tenderly 
nurtured  women,  men  who  have  been  brout^dit  up  in  tine  homes,  ehild- 
ren  upon  whom  the  winds  of  heaven  liave  never  blowri  roughly,  ujton 
some  reverse  of  fortune  liave,  with  breaking  hearts  and  weejting  eyes, 
found  themselves  upon  the  bare  prairie  with  scareely  a  shelter  but  the 
blue  areh  of  heaven,  with  the  wild  winds  more  pitiful  than  the  pitiless 
moekery  of  a  free  government  at  Washington.  Why  tnx  the  rough 
boards  they  must  have  not  to  make  a  comfortable  liome,  but  to  save 
even  their  lives?  Whv,  bv  a  hiuh  taiiff,  stimulate  the  i)riee  of  a  e<Mn- 
modify  that  must  soon  be  gone,  and  thus  cause  our  pineries  to  be 
sooner  exhausted  ?  To  keej)  the  money  in  the  country,  do  yon  say? 
The  $2  j)er  thousand  extra  would  never  leave  tlie  poor  man's  pocket 
that  now  goes  to  enrich  a  few  hunber  rings  who  lu.w  coi.trol  the  price 
of  lumber  all  over  these  United  States,  and  not  a  foot  can  be  soltl  be- 
low the  price  they  name.  The  tariff  makes  it  possible  for  them  to  do 
this,  and  it  should  be  abolished. 


(77!*'  Ndtion,  A'em  York,  JunKar;/  4,  I88M.) 

THE    TAUIFK    ON     1,1  MUKR. 

The  representatives  of  the  Chicago  lumber  manufacturers  who  ap- 
peared last  autumn  before  the  'J'ariif  Commission  and  advocated  tlie 
retention  of  the  tariff  on  lumber,  were  endowed,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  witli 
a  f.'iir  sense  of  humor,  else  they  must  lose  much  of  the  enjoyment  to 
wliich  they  are  entitled  in  contuiiplating  the  readiness  with  which 
their  bait  was  swallowed  by  the  conmiii-sioi..  The  joke  is  excellent, 
ev«'n  if  the  jiublic  at  large  ciunot  quite  appreciate  it.  Tlie  luml)ermen 
tliink  that  (he  present  <liity  ef  ^2  jier  l,()(i()  feet  imposed  upon  lumber 
entering  the  Vnittd  States  from  the  l)<imiiiion  of  Canada  is  reason- 
abb',  and  the  'J'arift  Commission  ctiiciiis  with  (lum  in  this  view. 
What  are  the  facts  in  the  case  which  the  T;iiiff  Coniiiiission  should 
have  taken  into  consideration  in  disdissing  this  duty  iipen  Canadian 
lumber?  We  are  now,  since  the  jmblication  of  the  Fiiiestiy  Bulletins 
of  the  Census,  for  the  first  time  in  a  position  to  examine  the  subject 
really  intelligently. 

The  duty  was  placed  \\\)o\\  Canadian  lumber  in  tlie  interest  o(  the 
Northwestern  lumbemun.  It  benetited  no  other  class,  and  was  desired 
in  no  otlier  section.      The  lumbernKn  of  the  Northwest  argued  that 


14 


thi'ir  pine  t'on-sts  were  inexhaustibh' — aMe  to  .^upply  indertnitrlv  all 
the  demands  till'  country  could  ever  make  upon  tbera:  and  that  beyond 
the  houndary  these  forests  extended  indefinitely,  e^Mitainisig  such  a 
body  of  lunihcr  that  tlie  human  mind  could  not  even  gra.ip  its  im- 
mensity. They  could  manufacture  all  the  lumber  the  country  couhl 
ever  need.  IJut  if  the  Canadians,  with  their  fj;reater  facilities  fm-  uian- 
iifacturinu:,  their  lower  wages  and  l)elter  timbt-r,  should  be  admitted 
to  comiietition,  the  home  manufactories  nnist  perish.  By  exaggerat- 
inir  the  extent  of  the  nine  forests  of  the  I'nited  States,  thev  we'-3  able 
to  purchase  pine  lands  at  a  nominal  price.  l>y  maintaining  the  duty 
upon  Can.adian  lumber,  they  were  enabled  to  manufacture  lumber  at 
a  large  ])rofit.  The  plan  was  well  conceived  and  suc<'essful  ;  but  un- 
fortunately the  census  brought  some  disagreeable  facts  to  light.  It 
showed  that  in  I8S0,  even,  the  pine  forests  of  the  country  had  already 
severely  suffered,  and  that  chey  were  not  only  not  inexhaustible,  but  in 
reality  almost  exhausted.  It  showed  that  the  proiluction  of  white-pine 
lumber  had  increased  and  was  increasing  with  dangerous  rapidity,  and 
that  the  complete  extinction  of  Chicago  as  a  great  lumber-distributing 
])oint  could  be  foretold  with  entire  certainty.  The  publication  of  these 
facts  was  followed  by  the  natural  results:  the  ))rice  of  pine  land 
doubled  in  a  few  nu)nths,  and  in  some  i-ases  even  quadrupled.  But 
the  lumbermen  still  presevered  a  bold  front.  They  denounced  the 
census,  and  set  to  work  to  discover  undiscoverable  pine. 

Their  first  venture  was  in  Tennessee;  and  on  the  western  slopes  of 
the  Allegheny  mountains  and  the  Cumberland  Plateau,  where  the 
broad-leaved  forest  of  the  Mississi])pi  b.i  'n  culminates  in  all  its  rich- 
ness and  beauty,  their  organs  discovered  grt-at  body  of  white  pine, 
wb  .oil  contained  more  lumber  than  Michigan  could  boast  upoa  the  day 
of  its  discovery.  The  choice  of  locality  had  been  badly  made;  Kast 
Tennessee  was  too  well  known,  and  had  to  be  aband<med.  Their  next 
attempt  was  made  in  the  North.  A  traveler  and  woodsman  of  tre- 
mendous experience  and  intelligence  rushetl  into  Chicago,  breathless 
with  excitement.  He  had  discovered,  on  a  little  stream  flowing  from 
the  north  into  the  Georgian  Bay,  a  body  of  the  most  nnigiiificent  white 
pine  the  eye  of  man  had  ever  beheld.  It  contained  hundreds  or  thous- 
ands of  billion  feet  of  lumber — enough  to  supply  the  United  States 
and  Canada  for  at  least  a  century.  Tnliappily,  it  was  shown  that  the 
stream  in  (piestion  was  only  about  thirty  miles  in  length,  that  the  val- 
ley which  it  w;itere(l  was  situated  near  the  extreme  northern  edge  of 
the  pine  forest,  and  that  the  few  pine  trees  which  grew  along  its  banki* 


15 


I'fmilrlv   .ill 
hat  bfVoiKl 
ing  siuli  a 
a.-p  ils  im- 
111  try  could 
<'s  tor  iiiaii- 
e  ailmittfd 
t'.\a<r<j;erat- 
\vt"  '  able 
ir  the  duty 
luHjlter  at 
I  :  l»iit  u!i- 
'  liu'lit.     It 
lad  already 
il)lf,  but  in 
white-pine 
pidity,  and 
istributing 
on  of  these 
pine   land 
)led.       Bui 
>unced    the 

n  slopes  of 
when  the 
all  its  rich- 
ivliito  pine, 
►Oil  the  dav 
ia<le;  Kast 
Tlu-ir  next 
lan  of  tre- 
breathless 
\\'\n]i  from 
cent  white 
Is  or  tlious- 
it»'d  States 
n\  that  the 
lat  the  val- 
Tii  edtje  of 
\l  its  Iiaiiks 


among  the  han'ior  denseness  of  the  great  sub-arctic  forests  of  the 
north,  \sere  sirattered,  small,  and  utterly  worthless  for  commercial  pur- 
p(»ses. 

All  this  had  occurred  before  the  meeting  of  the  Tariff  Commission 
in  Chicago,  The  lumbermen,  finding  that  they  could  no  longer  secure 
the  raw  material  at  a  nominal  prii-e,  were  more  anxious  than  ever  to 
maintain  the  duty  «>n  Camulian  lumbei-,  and  so  kee)»  up  the  price  of  the 
luanuractured  article.  The  vast  resour<'es  of  the  Canadian  forests,  and 
the  dangers  which  I  lirealeiud  the  lumber  m.-iiuifactories  of  the  rnite<l 
St.ites  from  Canadian  competition,  were  still  held  up  as  sullicient  rea- 
sons for  maintaining  the  duty.  It  is  still  im]).»ssible  to  spi'ak  with  great 
precisi«»n  of  the  Canadian  forests.  Their  extent,  but  not  their  produc- 
tive capacity,  is  known.  They  arc  composed,  east  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains,  of  pine  and  fir,  and  west  of  the  liocky  Mountains  largely 
of  fir.  The  number  of  broad-leaved  trees  whi(^h  extend  north  of  the 
Iduindary  of  the  United  States  is  (•oniparativel>  small,  and  none  of 
them  attain  either  the  size  or  quality  of  the  sann'  species  further  south. 
Thecomiietition,  tlu'u,  which  we  have  t<»  fear  fnnn  Canadian  lumber  isin 
|Mueand  spruce;  that  is,  in  <'omparatively  cheap  woods,  which  enter  into 
the  general  ('(/iistruction  of  all  building."*,  and  which  are  among  the  prime 
necessities  of  civilized  lifi'.  But  if  the  productive  capacity  ol  Canadian 
j)ine  forests  is  less  known  than  that  of  our  own,  reliable  information  is  not 
entirely  wanting  in  reg.ird  totiiem.  Intelligent  estimatesof  the  amount 
of  pine  standing  in  Canada  have  been  made,  and,  although  ditf.  ring  con- 
siderably in  amount,  they  are  not  without  value,  as  it  apjiears  that  the 
last  estimates  made  differ  from  the  earlier  ones  principally  because  they 
include  small  trees,  which  a  few  years  ago  were  entirely  disregarded. 
It  is  safe  to  assume,  in  any  case,  that  the  existing  Canadian  ))ine 
forests  will  not  yield  more  than  40  to  .^(^ooCOOOjOOO  feet  of  mer- 
chantable pine.  The  pnxluction  of  white-pine  lumber  in  the  United 
States  is  now  not  fur  from  l(),()()0,oO(t,()0()  feet. annually  ;  so  that,  in 
order  to  protect  the  Chicago  lumbermen  from  competition  with  a 
l>ody  of  pine  which  does  not  exceed  four  oi  five  years'  supidy  for  this 
country,  we  impose  a  tax  of  $2  upon  every  1,()00  feet  of  white  pine, 
spruce,  or  Oregon  fir  used  in  the  Inited  States.  The  manufacturers 
of  lumber  grow  rich  ;  the  consumers  and  the  forests  suffer. 

The  country  is  not  without  words  of  warning  in  regard  to  the 
dangeriL'  which  threaten  the  forests  ;  they  have  been  spoken  far  and 
wide.  !'•  the  meantime  we  continue  to  take  ^2  from  the  pocket  of 
every  man  using  a  thousand  feet   of   pine  or  spruce  lumber,  an<l  hand 


16 

it  over  to  the  in:muractun'rs  jih  a  bounty  <o  indue*'  fliciii  to  (U'Ptroy 
the  forests  more  iai)iflly.  It  is  natural,  then,  that  the  tnanufacturers 
renist  any  attempt  to  have  this  duty  removed.  Tliey  will  make  si  still 
more  determined  Kj/lit  to  prevent  it.  'I'liey  are  bold,  rich,  and  tinited. 
They  are  actuated  by  a  single  purpose — to  convert  the  greatest  amount 
of  forest  Into  the  largest  amount  of  money  in  the  shortest  possible 
time.  Their  organization  is  perfect.  They  contnd  Legislatures  and 
elect  members  of  Congress  ;  they  own  (lovernors  and  Si'uators.  They 
know  what  they  want  and  they  mean  to  have  it  any  cost,  and  without 
regard  to  the  future  j)ros)MMity  of  the  country.  It  will  lake  something 
stronger  than  the  Tariff  Commission  to  make  them  let  go  their  grip 
upon  the  people.  We  repeat,  the  tariff  duty  <,n  lumber  is  a  premium 
on  the  devastation  of  the  country,  and  should  be  repealed  without 
delay. 


{Tltii  WeeJdy  Wifvrsn,  Neir  i'ork,  Ja/iuan/  -it/i,  l^S:i.) 

TIMHKK    AND     IHIC    TAIUKK. 

Of  all  the  features  of  the  jtresent  tariif  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
one  .so  utterly  stupid  and  blind  to  self-interest  as  that  regarding  lum- 
ber. As  every  one  knows,  our  timber  supjily  is  being  used  up  with 
alarming  ra[)iility.  Yet  we  put  a  jiremium  upon  the  destruction  of 
our  forests  by  obstructing  the  importation  of  lumber  from  Canada, 
and  preserve  the  wealth  of  our  Northern  neighbors  l)y  discouraging 
them   from  cutting  their  timl»er  for  our  benefit. 

The  proti'ctive  system  as  applied  to  manuf:ietui"ing  industry,  has 
many  |)lausible  arguments  in  its  favor.  It  is  claimed  for  it  that  it 
makes  the  country  self-dependent  in  case  of  war,  and  that  is  certainly 
a  great  advantage.  It  is  claime<l  that  this  system  makes  wages 
high.  It  is  clainu'd  that  protection  makes  things  cheaper  in  the  h)ng 
run  by  inducing  such  competition  in  the  favored  industries  as  to  bring 
down  prices.  There  are  many  plausible  argunu'iits  such  as  the  fore- 
goii'.g,  in  favor  of  jjrotection  to  manufacturing  industries;  and  how- 
ever fallacious  these  may  be  jiroved  to  be,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  they  find  credence  in  many  honest  but  unreflecting  minds. 

There  is  likewise  something  to  be  said  in  favor  of  duties  even  upon 
many  raw  materials     roduced  in  this  country. 

But  how  is  it  in  tuc  case  of  timber?  Our  forest  resources  are  not 
only  not  inexhaustible,  but  a  very  few  years  will  see  the  end  of  them. 


17 


to  (loptroy 
MifnctiirtTs 
iimIvc  ',\  still 
i!i(l  united, 
est  amount 
'st  possible 
aturcs  and 
tors.  They 
lid  without 

HoinetliinLj 
•  their  grip 
a  premium 
'd  wil^hout 


ult  to  find 
•tling  lum- 
'd  up  with 
ruction  of 
;n  Canatla, 
!Cou  raging 

lustrj-,  has 
it  that  it 
5  certainly 
:es  wages 
ti  the  long 
s  to  hring 
s  the  fore- 
and  liow- 
indered  at 
ds. 
iven  upon 

es  are  not 
i  of  them. 


Wood  is  a  raw  mali'rial  than  whieii  there  is  none  of  more  general  and 
imperative  need.  Frame  houses  are  huilt  of  it.  JJri  :k  and  Htone 
houses  recprire  it  for  floorings,  doors,  window-sashes,  roofs,  etc.  It 
enters  into  the  construction  of  barns,  stables,  sheds,  and  outbiiildingf? 
of  all  kinds.  It  is  the  material  for  tables,  bedsteads,  and  other  furni- 
ture. Steamboats  and  wagons  are  made  of  it,  and  it  i»  used  in  im- 
mense quantities  for  railroad  tics.  Indcc*!  it  would  be  hardly  pos- 
sible to  overestimate  the  value  of  wood,  and  the  impcjrtance  of  ensur- 
ing an  abundant  supply.  And  yet  wh.i  bus  been  our  policy  in  this 
matter?  With  one  hand  the  government  offers  timber  claims  and 
various  bonuses  to  induce  farmers  to  jdant  forests  which  will  not  be 
available  till  some  distant  future  day;  while  with  the  other  hand  it 
offeis  a  premium  to  lumbermen  to  cut  away  the  forests  we  have,  which 
have  been  generations  in  attaining  their  present  size.  Canada  has 
vast  forests  which  wo  might  hive  drawn  upon,  under  free  trade — 
that  is,  if  the  Canadians  had  been  foolish  I'nong'-.  to  cut  them  as  reck- 
lessly as  we  have  cut  ours.  On  the  contrary  we  have  delil)crately 
obstructed  the  importation  of  Canadian  lumber,  and  not  only  com- 
pelled our  people  to  i)ay  a  big'  er  price  than  otherwise  for  this  article 
of  prime  necessity,  but  destroyed  in  the  m<^st  prodigal  fashion  a  herit- 
age which  it  is  hardly  possible  in  the  lifetime  of  this  generation  to 
restore.  All  this  has  been  done  for  tl..  benefit  of  a  few  wealthy  lum- 
bermen, who  may  be  depended  u})on  to  make  consumer*  pay  the  high- 
est possible  i>rice,  and  who  care  moi'e  for  immediate  profit  to  them- 
selves than  for  the  future  timber  resources  of  the  country.  If  there  is 
any  possible  way  of  defending  such  protection  as  that,  we  would  like 
to  know  it. 


{27i£  Commercial  Gazette,  Cincinnati,  January  o,  1883.) 

nOUNTIKS  TO  DKSTKOY  THE  PORKSTS. 

Scientific  people  say  that  forests  temper  the  extremes  of  climate, 
equalize  the  rainfall,  equalize  the  flow  of  streams,  and  so  preserve  fer- 
tility, and  increase  comfort.  They  dej^lore  the  rapid  cutting  down  of 
our  forests,  and  patriotic  men  have  formed  associations  to  promote 
the  jdanting  of  woods,  to  counteract  this  tendency  to  drouth  and  bar- 
renness. The  object  seems  highly  patriotic.  But  while  we  are  thus 
trying  to  propagate  forestry  by   individual  and   associated   voluntary 


18 


:lii 


HI 


cflort.  arc  wo  !!.»!,  as  a  wliolc,  stiiinilatii)f;  tlic  (■uttii\g(»f  our  fore  t  by 
an  cxtraord'marj' (JiiviTiimcut  Ixmiity  y  The  duties  laid  on  iinportc*! 
tinilKT  and  linnbcr  arc  a  direct  l»«tunty  j»aid  l>y  the  i»eo|»Ie  for  inowinj; 
down  the  forests  of  our  country. 

As  well  send  out  an  army  of  incendiaries,  and  then  expect  to  ecjual- 
ize  the  moisture  by  following  witli  a  liand-sciuirt,  as  trying  to  counter- 
act the  effects  of  this  bounty  in  cutting  down  the  forests,  by  planting 
trees.  We  are  even  more  absunl  than  this  ;  for  the  Government  gives 
the  ])ublic  lands  as  bounties  to  those  who  [)lant  them  with  trees,  whili! 
it  pays  this  bounty  for  cutting  off  the  natural  forests.  The  duty  on 
timber  is  tweuty-tive  per  cent,  on  ''hewn  and  sawed,  and  timber  us.ed 
for  spars,  and  in  Ituiiding  wharves,"  and  ^1  a  hundred  cubic  feet  on 
'' s((uared  or  sided,  not  especially  enumerated;"  on  sawed  boards, 
deal,  and  other  sawe(l  lumber,  jj!;.'  per  thousand  feet,  e.\ce[)t  on  hendock, 
basswood,  sycamore  and  wliitewood  which  are  '%l  per  one  thousand 
feet,  board  measure,  and  from  si. 50  to  ¥.{.r)0  for  boards  in  the  several 
'degrees  of  planing  and  grooving  ;  <ti)  hubs  for  wheels,  posts,  wagon- 
blocks,  and  all  sorts  of  sawed  or  rough-hewn  blocks,  twenty  per  cent.; 
and  so  on  through  staves,  shingles,  lath,  clapboards,  and  tlie  rest. 
The  Tariff   Commission  lets  these  duties  stand. 

These  duties  on  timber  and  luinlier  are  not  jtrotective  in  the  sense 
that  other  protecti-  ibities  are  held  ;  they  are  destructive.  The  ob- 
ject of  protective  duties  on  foreign  products  is  to  extend  over  our  pro- 
dnctio'i  of  th(»se  articles;  but  the  lundier  dutiesdo  not  promote  the  pro- 
duction of  lumber  in  our  country  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  destroy  the 
s«ip|)ly.  It  is  like  paying  a  bounty  to  encourage  the  eating  up  of  seed 
corn.  These  destroyed  forests  are  not  renewed.  Either  the  land  is 
taken  for  tillage,  or  it  is  left  to  grow  up  with  poor  scrubs.  It  does 
not  again  renew  the  same  timber.  This  affair  can  be  considered  apart 
from  any  question  of  the  theory  of  protection,  for  these  duties  are 
not  protective  of  the  home  product. 

The  sn\all  revenue  from  the  wood  duties  proves  their  effect  in  stimii 
lating  the  destruction  of  our  forests.  And  while  these  duties  are  ex- 
tinguishing the  great  store  of  timber  which  the  bounty  of  Nature  gave 
us,  they  are  a  burden  upon  every  industry  and  upon  the  living  of  every 
workman.  Besides,  their  lack  of  discrimination  makes  the  farmer  ])ay 
the  same  bounty  to  the  domestic  lumbermen  on  the  inferior  boards- 
for  fences, barns  and  sheds  as  the  importer  pays  upon  clear  lumber 
and  the  finer  (jualities.  And  at  the  same  time  mahogany,  rosewoo<l 
and  satinwood  are  admitted  free. 


[•  fore  ?t  bv 

* 

1  iin]M)rt('<l 
or  mowinic 

;t  to  equal- 
to  couuttT- 
)y  planting 
mu'tit  n'lvi'H 
IrceH,  while 
he  'liity  on 
iniber  uicd 
bit',  feet  on 
'ed  boards, 
)n  hemlock, 
e  thousaiKl 
the  several 
sts,  wagon- 
y  )»er  cent.; 
d  tlie    rest. 

the  sense 
The  ob- 
er  our  })ro- 
[jte  the  pro- 
estroy  the 
up  of  seed 
the  land  is 
It  does 
lered  apart 
duties  are 

ct  in  stiniu 

ties  are  ex- 

^"^ature  gave 

tiLT  of  every 

farmer  ])ay 

lor  boards- 

ar    lumber 

,  rosewood 


19 

Let  Congress  al)olish  its  land  bounties  for  tree  culture,  so  long  as  it 
continues  to  force  the  consumers  of  lumber  to  pay  a  bounty  to  the 
hnnbernu'ii  for  mowing  down  our  forests.  Canada  has  a  vast  <lofnain 
of  forest,  conci-rniiig  whose  uitinnte  I'xhaustion  we  need  not  trouble 
ourselves.  Let  her  furnish  our  lumber,  or  a  part  of  it.  Let  oui  lum- 
bermen go  there  and  bring  it  iii  free  of  duty,  and  so  do  good  to  every 
branch  of  labor.  Even  if  i>  should  diminish  the  protits  of  the  great 
iuono[»olists,  who  have  bntuirht  up  va<t  tracts  of  the  pine  lands,  it  will 
he  for  the  general  good,  .md,  prol)ably,  in  the  end,  will  not  reduce 
their  gains.  The  duties  on  tind)er  and  lumber  should  be  wholly  abol- 
ished, as  not  protective  but  destructive. 


( 77/r  iSk/i,  Jdnuarif  iStli,   188:}.) 

FOKEST    I'RoTKiriON. 

The  intelligent  discussion  which  the  action  of  the  Committee  oi 
Ways  and  Means  in  recommending  the  retention  of  the  duty  upon 
lumber  entering  the  Cnite<l  States  has  excited  in  all  ])arts  of  the 
country,  is  gratifying.  It  indicates  that  purely  economic  (piestions  are 
growing  in  popular  favor,  and  that  everything  relating  to  our  fore^'.s 
or  forest  protection  interests  the  jjcople. 

It  is  probably  this  interest  in  forest  protection,  rather  than  the  de- 
sire for  cheaper  lund)er  for  the  consumer,  which  underlies  this  discussion. 

It  is  the  height  of  folly,  of  course,  to  tax  foreign  lumber.  The 
duties  collected  in  this  way  by  the  Government  are  insignificant  in 
amount,  and  every  dollar  thus  collected  is  taken,  over  and  over  again, 
from  the  consumer  of  domestic  lumber  for  i  le  sole  benefit  of  the  man- 
ufacturers. These  have  not  the  excuse  of  a  weak  and  undeveloped  in- 
dustry which  must  be  built  up  at  the  expense  of  the  consumer  for  the 
general  good  of  the  country. 

The  manufacturers  of  lumber  are  rich,  prosperous,  and  strong. 
Their  methods  and  facilities  for  carrying  on  their  business  are  unsur- 
passed. No  possible  competition  can  deprive  them  of  large  profits. 
If  there  exists  mi  the  l"'nited  States  a  single  industry  which  is  in  the 
position  to  flourish  without    protection,  it  is  the  lumber  industry. 

From  purely  economic  grounds  this  duty  should  be  removed.  It 
has  served  to  build  up  dangerous  monopolies,  and  it  represses  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  wide  interest 
manifested  in  this  question  arises  less  from  the  feeling  that  it  is  desir- 


m 


*0 

ablo  fo  prevent  monopoly  tliiin  Ironi  the  fact  that  the  removal  of  this 
•luty  is  tlie  iirst,  and  :ui  in<lispensal»K'.  step  toward  forest  protection. 
The  forest  (juestion  is  hecominj;  one  of  the  popular  (pie<tions  «»f  the 
day,  and  every thinjx  which  relates  to  the  extent  and  eondition  of  our 
forests  is  eagerly  read  an«l  disensseil.  It  reipiires  no  great  knowledge 
of  the  siihjccl  to  und(Mwtjjiid  that  if  Caii;idian  hnnher  is  i-vcludcd  hy 
the  tariff,  tlif  drain  upon  on.  forests  must  he  greater  tlian  if  Canadian 
lumber  was  alloweil  to  ('<impete  on  e(pial  terms  w  ith  the  product  of 
our  own  forests.  Tiu'  people  undti'stand  this  ;  tliey  understand  that 
the  destruction  of  the  forests  means  something  more  serious  than  a 
<learth  of  lumlter.  They  apprehend  that  the  removal  of  the  forests 
will  he  followed  hy  se\<'re  climatic  changes;  that  the  rivers  of  the 
country  will  often  he  eliange<l  t(»  torrents  or  I'cdiiced  to  streandcts; 
that  springs  anil  streams  will  disapjjcar  ;  that  agriculturi-  will  perish 
and  niinufactures  languish.  They  see  these  evils  hastened  hy  the  re- 
tention of  this  pnttective  duty;  they  ask  themselves  hy  what  right  the 
prosperity  of  the  country  is])laecd  in  jeO|iai'dy  because  it  is  the  pleasure 
of  a  group  of  men  to  grow  rich,  and  because  Congress  is  too  ignorant 
or  too  indilTercnt  to  stop  this  abuse.  No  more  vital  (piestioji  can  come 
before  Congress;  perhaps  no  Ci)ngress  has  ever  been  called  on  to  de- 
cide an  economic  (piestion  of  greater  moment. 

Is  there  no  man  who  can  j^in  tlu'  discordant  elements  of  the  Pro- 
tectionists, the  Tariff  Reformers,  and  the  Free  Traders;  who  can  unite 
Democrats  and  llcjiublicans  on  the  broad  plat  form  of  public  nei-essity, 
to  check  this  destruction  of  our  wasting  forests  ?  Such  a  man  will 
deserve  the  name  of  statesman  and  the  gratitude  of  tlie  countrv. 


{lioxtou  lit r all,  Janmirij  10,  1883.) 

LOGIC    OF    P!{OTi:CTION. 

In  the  tariff  on  lumber  another  consideration  apjjcars.  Lumber 
needs  no  protection.  The  price  has  rapidly  advanced  under  the  law 
of  supply  and  demand.  Our  forests  are  disappearing.  We  need  to 
protv'ct  them  from  destruction. 

It  wo>dd  be  wisdom  to  encourage  the  importation  of  lumber  from 
Canada  to  save  our  own  forests.  On  the  c(mtrary,  we  shut  out  Cana- 
dian lumber  by  the  tariff.  *  *  ♦  *  * 


-j»».i_. 


■al   of  tlnH 
protection. 
HIS  of  tlie 
loii   of  our 
ktiowK'di^o 
:chi<l('(l  l)y 
f  Caiiinlian 
|»ro<liu'l    of 
staml    that 
ous  than  a 
tht'  forests 
'^ers  of  the 
streamlets; 
will  perish 
l)y   tiie   re- 
it  ritj;ht  the 
he  pleasure 
DO  ignorant 
m  can  come 
il  on  to  de- 

of  tiie  Pro- 

o  can  unite 

necessity, 

a  man  will 

nlrv. 


Lumber 

er  the  law 

Te  need  to 

iniher  froni 

t  out  Cana- 
*  * 


31 

An>/  (iifithi  Jiiniiiir;/  14: 
The  tariff  on  luniher  is  woiking  as  badly  o»i  the  Pacific  coast  as  in 
the  rest  of  the  country.  The  mills  on  Pni^et  Sound,  which  supply  a 
larLCe  proportion  of  the  lumber  other  than  redwood  used  on  the  coast, 
are  in  tlu'  eontnd  of  a  combination  by  wl.'ieh  prices  are  kept  up, which 
bears  heavily  on  the  growth  of  Washington  ttMTifory  and  Oregon. 
There  is  an  abundane  of  lundn'r  in  liritish  Columbia,  but  it  is  ke]>t 
out  by  the  duty  of  *'2  a  thousand.  The  Anu'riean  forests,  which  most 
needs  protection,  ar(>  not  protected  by  this  jiroleetion  polic}'. 

(  The   Iti'.fnr^l  and  (iituh,  Xein    yOrk.  .huinnnj   l.'J,   188.'J.) 
Ill  his  last   messsage.  President    Aithur  made  reference  to  the  ra})id 
destruction   of  the   forests  throughout   the  cou'itry,  and   stated   that 
''their  total  extinction  cannot  long  be  delayed,  unless  better  methods 
than  now  jirevail  shall  l)c  adoptccl  for  their  protection  and  cultivation." 
Ani)ther  eminent  autln»rity,  Professor  Sargent,  give^    it  as  his  opinion 
that  within  eight  years   the  whole  of  the  white  pine  forests  will  have 
been   subjected   to   tlu'  axe,  and    that    the  c((untry  will   thereafter  be 
dependent    for   its  supply    from    foreign  sources.     It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  unless  Congress  interferes  to  stop  the  further  destruction  of  these 
trees  the  country    will    within    a  few   years   be  deinided   of   a   timber 
which  is  usi'd  more  than  any  other  f(»r  buihiing.  furniture,  ship-build- 
ing, and    a   variety  of   other  |»urj)oses.      It    is  true  that  forests  of  pine 
trees  can  l)e   recultivated,  but   as   it   w<iuld   take  a  generation   before 
they  would  reach  maturity  and   be  ready  for  th'>  ;narket,  it  is  evident 
that  for  many  years  the  country  would  have  to  obtain  its  supi)ly  from 
Canadian   and   other  extraiu'ous  sources.     It  i    surprising,  in  view  of 
the>e  facts,  that    neither   the   Tariff  Conunission   nor  the  House  Com- 
mittee  of   Ways   and    Means   have  reco]nmende<l  tiie  abolition  of  the 
tariff  on  timlier  at  a  linu'   when  this  appears  t<*  be  so  necessary.     It  is 
true  the  latter  lia\i'   advised   t'  „•  reduction  of  twenty-tive  per  ci'iit.  on 
certain   articles   of  lumber  ;   Imt  as   the  items     I'ected  do  not  yield  an 
annual  revenue  of  nu)re  than  a  few  thousund  collars,  the  (piestion  can 
hardly  bv^"  said  to  have  been  touched  on  the  fringe.    The  entire  annual 
revenue  from  imports  on  all  kinds  of  lumber  is  <jnly  ^i,500,i)()(>,  a  sum 
which  can   be  easily   spared   from   the   Treasury  ;  and   now   that  the 
necessity    for   their  abolition  has  been   evident,  it  is  to  bi  ho[)eil  that 
Congress  will  not  fail  to   place   them   on  the  free  list  wlien  they  come 
to  deal  with  the  (piestion  of  tariff  reform. 


(il 


22 


{The  Nein  Yor/>-  Dail;/  Commercial  Bulletin,  Januar)/  1:1.) 

TIMHEK    ANI>    TIIK    TAKIFF. 

For  some  years  past  there  has  been  a  growing  interest  in  the  suhject 
of  forestry,  and  througli  tlie  labors  of  Forestry  Associations  the  pub- 
lie  have  been  brought  to  some  extent  to  reaUzethe  ]»ro<ligality  in  our 
consumption  of  timber.  The  interest  has  irisen  mainly  from  eonsid- 
era*^ions  of  climatic  and  meteoric  changes,  thought  to  be  induced  by 
the  destructions  of  forest,  liurtful  l»oth  to  the  public  health  and  to 
tlie  agricultural  interests  of  the  country.  It  has  been  sought  to 
remedy  the  evil  by  inciting  the  landowner  to  i)lant  trees,  and  to 
endeavor  thus,  for  the  benetit  of  i)is  posterity  if  not  for  himself,  to  re- 
store the  equilibi'ium  that  has  been  so  unwittingly  desti'oyed.  Some 
enthusiasts  have  even  urged  the  prolitableness  of  tree-i)lanting  as  a 
cr<»p,  seeking  to  demonstrate  that  the  growth  would  yield  a  good  rate 
of  interest,  and  that  profits  can  be  taken  in  a  very  few  years.  Nor 
has  this  matter  bec"  regarded  as  concerning  solely,  or  even  mainly, 
the  oldei"  sections  of  the  country,  l)ut  rather  as  having  a  special  bear- 
ing u])on  those  regions  of  the  West  where  llu'  large  supply  of  par- 
ticular kinds  of  wood  have  brought  them  i  to  common  consumi)tion, 
and  where  vast  prairie  regions  are  treeless  and  the  teeming  iidiabitants 
and  their  property  are  at  the  mei-cv  of  storm-  and  winds  that  gather 
fury  in  their  long  sweep,  unltroken  and  rntenipcred  by  forests. 

All  this  is  very  \vell,  no  doubt,  and  j)rizes,  as  pro)»osed,  may  well  be 
offered  fen- tree-planting  in  this  country,  as  in  England  and  im  the 
Continent.  Hut  there  has  suddenly  come  to  the  front  a  new  ])hase  of 
the  subject,  brought  conspicuously  to  light  by  the  late  census  report 
on  the  lumber  industry  of  tin;  country.  This  report  was  made  by 
Professor  Sargent,  a  gentleman  eminently  fitted  for  the  task,  and  it 
reveals  the  startbnix  fact  that  the  destruction  of  our  forests,  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  lumber  industry,  is  proceeding  at  so  rapid  a  rate 
that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  an  exhaustion  of  the  su)>])ly  This  com- 
mercial aspect  of  the  situation  is  of  })arami>uut  interest  to  the  country, 
and  deni'inds  a  pronijit  and  candid  consideration  <»n  the  part  of  the 
people  and  of  Congress.  The  extent  of  the  tree  slaughter  may  be 
seen  in  the  following  item  of  sawed  products  as  returned  in  the 
census  of  1  .S80  : 

Feet  of  lumher 18,091, iWfJ.OOO 

Nutnhor  of  laths 1.7(il ,7H8,0()0 

Numhei'  of  sliiugles 5,5.').'), 04r),000 

Number  of  staves l,248,22r).00i) 


1^3 


n  the  subject 
)ns  tlic    pub- 
j;ality  in  our 
rom    consid- 
iiuluccd  l)y 
'liltli  •md    to 
1    soufxht    to 
rees,  and  to 
injself,  to  rc- 
oyed.     Sonic 
anting   as    a 
a  good  rati" 
years.     Nor 
'vcn    mainly, 
special  l)ear- 
)l)ly    of   par- 
consumption, 
g  iidial)itants 
that  gather 
Drests. 

may  well  he 

and  on   the 

u'w  ))has('  of 

cnsus  report 

as  made    l»y 

task,  and    it 

orests,  in  the 

■apid    a    I'ate 

This    eom- 

)  the  country, 

part   of  the 

liter  may   he 

turned  in  the 

18,01)1, :5.')(i,000 
l,7(il, 788.000 

5,  r,r)r>,  040,000 

1,348,220.000 


Numberol'  sets  lieadiiigs 14(5,523.000 

Feet  of  bol)l>in  and  spool 34,070,000 

Value  of  products |233,307.729 

But,  besides  these  items,  there  are  great  quantities  of  trees  brought 
down  for  other  purjjoses  than  for  sawing.  Professor  Sargent  says 
that  in  a  few  years  the  entire  present  stock  will  be  gone.  This  is 
especially  the  ciise  with  the  supply  of  white  i)ine.  Tiie  total  quantity 
of  this  timber  standing  is  ])ut  at  not  above  S0,00(),0()0,0()()  feet,  ;ind 
the  annual  cutting  of  it  at  about  1(),()0(),()00,000  feet  ;  at  which  rate, 
before  another  census  year  rolls  around  the  sui>ply  will  be  exhausted, 
A  genuine  alarm  has  l)een  sounded  for  some  months.  The  President, 
in  his  late  me.s.sage,  referred  to  it,  and  advised  legislation  for  the  pro- 
tection of  <  ii  forests.  It  is  certainly  incundient  u))on  Congress  to 
discourage  this  wholesale  and  reckless  destruction  of  an  articde  of 
])rime  necessity.  We  have  to  t'le  north  of  us,  in  the  British  Domin- 
ion, a  storeh(»use  of  pine  timber,  j)erpetual  by  its  situation  beyond 
the  encroachments  of  agricidture,  to  which  Ave  should  be  looking  for 
relief.  We  have  gone  far  enough  in  the  direction  of  consuming  our 
own  su])i>ly  at  anything  like  the  jux'sent  rate,  and  should  begin  at 
once  to  draw  more  freely  upon  other  sources. 

But,  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  the  late  Tariff  Commission  further 
eiu'ourage  and  stimulate  the  present  rate  of  oi'v  timber  waste  by 
continuing  the  tariff  on  the  imi)ortation  of  lumber.  This  would 
incite  not  only  the  lumber  dealers  to  itu'rease  production,  but  every 
farmer  having  a  marketable  tree,  tc  cut  it  down.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  dealers  are  numerous  and  wealthy.  The  numl)er  of  sawing  estab- 
lishments in  1880  was  2"), 708,  and  their  cai)ital  ^lyi, 180, 123.  They 
have  bceti  alive  to  the  situation  that  has  been  revealed,  but  in  a  direc- 
tion (»})p()sed  to  the  welfare  (d'  the  country.  They  l\ave  sought  to 
<lisparage  the  census  report  and  have  been  shrewd  enough  to  capture 
the  Tariff  Commission.  It  is  ordinary  human  nature  on  the  ]»art  of 
the  dealers  to  do  this,  though  short-sighted  ;  but  it  is  humiliating 
weaknes  on  the  ])art  of  the  Commission  to  make  sucii  an  exhibition 
of  its  ignorance.  What  the  country  really  needs  is  to  have  the  duties 
on  foreign  limber  abolished  altogether.  It  is  another  one  of  those 
blunders  on  the  part  of  protectionists  that  are  rapidly  arousing  the 
people  to  demand  of  their  legislators  to  dissociate  taxation  from  pro- 
tection. Let  us  have  a  tariff  that  will  protect  the  jieople — the  country 
at  large — as  against  special  interests.  If  the  present  tinkerings  do  not 
do  this,  they  should  be  thrown  aside  until  real  representatives   of  the 


24 

people  are  intrusted  with  legislation.  At  any  rate,  let,  us  have  the 
legislative  protection  to  our  forest  supplies  that  the  President  lately 
advised  ;  and  beyond  this  it  is  highly  important  that  the  public  should 
be  brought  to  understand  the  advisability  of  using  other  materials 
than  timber,  such  as  coal  for  wood,  wire  for  fences,  and  stone,  brick 
and  concrete  for  houses,  as  well  as  planting  trees  for  health,  use  and 
beautv. 


{Daibj  Gazette  and  Free  I^ress,  Elmira,  Ja)niary  15,  1883.) 

TIIK    DUTY    ON    LUMUER. 

If  there  is  any  one  article  which  should  jO  admitted  into  our  ports  free 
of  duty  and  the  import,  of  which  should  be  in  every  way  encouraged, 
that  article  is  timber.  It  is  the  height  of  folly  to  tax  it.  The  duties 
collected  in  this  way  are  insignificant  in  amount,  and  every  dollar  thus 
collected  is  taken,  over  and  over  again,  from  the  consumer  of  domestic 
lumbei-  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  manufacturers.  These  have  not  the 
excuse  of  a  weak  and  undeveloped  industry,  which  must  be  built  up  at 
the  expen&e  of  the  consumer  for  the  general  good  of  the  country. 
These  manufacturers  of  lumber  are  rich,  prosperous  and  strong.  Their 
methods  ;uid  facilities  for  carrying  on  tlu'ir  business  are  unsurpassed. 
No  possible  competition  can  dej)rivc  them  c  their  immense  profits.  If 
there  exists  in  the  United  States  a  single  industry  which  is  in  the  posi- 
tion to  fiourisli  without  protection,  it  is  the  lumber  industry. 

If  from  no  other,  from  purely  economic  grounds,  this  should  be 
removed  ;  not  reduced  but  absolutely,  completely  removed.  It  has 
served  to  build  up  dangerous  nu)nop()lies  and  represses  the  prosperity 
of  the  country.  There  is  a  wide  interest  in  this  matter  manifested  in 
this  country,  not  only  from  the  fev  ling  that  the  duties  at  present  ex- 
isting tend  to  the  buihling  up  and  continuance  of  monopolies,  but  from 
the  fact  that  public  attention  is  at  present  specially  directed  toward 
the  preservation  of  our  forests. 

As  a  first  step  toward  their  preservation  it  is  evident  that  the  <luty 
on  Canadian  luml»er  ought  to  be  removed.  We  impose  a  tax  of  two 
dollars  per  thousand  feet  on  lumber  entering  the  United  States  from 
Canada,  and  this  duty,  of  course,  instead  of  protecting  the  forests, 
serves  as  a  bounty  for  tlieir  ra]»id  destruction.  It  takes  two  dollars 
out  of  the  pocket  of  every  uuui  who  buys  a  thousand  feet  of  lumber 
and  hands  it  over  to  tlu'  lumber  manufacturers  of  Chicago  and  the 


m 


25 


IS  have  the 
sident  lately 
lublic  should 
ler  materials 
stone,  brick 
ilth,  use  and 


I,  1883.) 

[)ur  ports  free 

encouraged, 

The  duties 

•y  dollar  thus 

r  of  domestic 

have  not  the 

)e  built  up  at 

the  country. 

rong.    Their 

unsurpassed. 

ite  profits.    If 

IS  in  the  posi- 

try. 

lis  sliould  be 
)ve(l.  It  has 
he  prosperity 
u;\nit'est(.'d  in 
\t  |)resent  ex- 
•lies,  but  from 
ccted  toward 

th;ir  Ihe  duty 
a  tax  of  two 
d  States  from 
>;  the  forests, 
I's  two  dollars 
L»et  of  lumber 
cago  and  the 


northwest,  whom  and  whom  alone  it  protects.  This  duty  is  a  daily, 
deadly  drain  on  the  resources  of  the  country.  It  touches  every  man 
w!)o  builds  a  wooden  liouse,  barn  or  fence,  or  who  pays  rent  to  the 
builder.  It  attacks  every  industry  which  uses  wood  in  any  way.  We 
pay  more  for  our  furniture,  for  our  floors,  even  for  our  daily  kindling 
wood,  because  of  this  duty,  and  in  addition  to  this  per|)etUMl  tax  we 
are  destroying  our  own  forests,  robbing  our  children  and  doing  incal- 
culable iniurv  to  the  climatic  future  of  the  ('<)untrv. 

The  forest  (piestion  is  becoming  one  of  the  popular  (juestions  of  the 
day  and  everything  which  relates  to  the  extent  and  condition  <»f  our 
forests  is  eagerly  read  and  discussed.  It  requires  no  great  knowledge 
of  the  subject  to  understand  that  if  C'an;idian  lumber  is  excluded  from 
this  country  l»y  reason  of  a  tax  on  its  importation,  the  drain  upon  our 
forests  must  be  much  greater  than  if  foreign  timber  was  allowed  to 
compete  on  equal  terms  witli  'he  products  of  our  own  forests.  The 
people  understand  this.  They  know  that  the  removal  of  the  forests 
will  be  followed  by  severe  climatic  changes;  that  the  rivers  of  the 
country  will  often  be  changed  to  torrents  or  red::ced  to  streamlets;  that 
springs  and  streams  will  disappear  ;  that  agriculture  will  jx'rish  and 
nuxnufactures  dwindle  and  languish.  'I'hey  see  these  evils  hastened, 
by  the  retention  of  this  protective  duty  and  see  no  earthly  reason  why 
it  should  be  retained.  Tile  puhlie  mischief  that  this  tax  is  dobig  is 
so  potent  and  so  serious  that  its  early  abolition  is  imperatively  de- 
manded. 


[Boston  Dalhj  A(ln*'rtisei\  Jan.  16//j,   18S3.) 

THK    LI  MUKU    TABIKF. 

Neither  in  the  senate  nor  in  the  house  tariff  bill  is  any  ciiange  made 
in  the  wood  schedule,  which  was  also  left  unchanged  l)y  the  Tariff 
C'ommission.  It  wouhi  be  interesting  to  learn  by  what  process  of 
reasoning  the  nu'inbers  of  the  Tariff  Commission  an<l  two  conunittees 
of  C'Ongress  have  persuaded  themselves  that  the  I'nited  States  should 
continue  to  iuij)ose  a  duty  on  lumber.  The  question  may  be  looked 
at  from  various  points  of  view,  but  we  can  discover  no  way  in  which, 
from  any  point  of  view,  the  tariff  can  he  logically  defended.  It  is 
certainly  not  because  we  need  the  revenue  that  the  duty  should  be 
retained,  antl  that  part  of  the  case  may  be  dismissed  at  once.  It  is 
equally  certain  that  the  reason  cannot  be  that  the  c  iisumers  of  lum- 


^rr 


I  ! 


I 


L'G 


bcr  dt'siiv  that  :i  ta\  l)e  l:ii<l  iii)on  a  part  ov  wlioU.'  of  tlie  liinibor  they 
use.  H(i\v  is  the  duty  t<i  be  (lefeiidcel  as  a  ineasuii'  of  protection  V 
The  object  of  protection  is  not  to  confer  a  benefit  Uj>on  the  producers 
of  the  articles  protected,  but  to  benefit  tlie  whole  country.  Unless  a 
protective  duty  either  lielps  to  develope  an  industry  which  it  is  im- 
))ortant  for  the  whole  country  shall  be  developed,  or  helps  to  maintain 
the  cxisteiure  of  industries  which  the  good  of  the  i-ountry  requires 
shall  be  maintained,  there  is  no  good  defense  of  the  <luty.  How 
stands  the  case  with  lumber  V  Tuder  the])reseiit  tariff  the  whole  bur- 
den of  the  home  demand  for  lumber  is  thrown  u])on  the  home  forests. 
Less  than  si\  ]»er  cent,  of  the  pine  and  spruce  manufactured  in  the 
United  States  in  the  course  of  a  year  is  imported  from  Canada,  which 
is  our  only  foreign  source  of  su])j)ly.  But  we  u^^e  about  eleven  thou- 
sand million  feet  of  these  kinds  of  wood  every  year,  and  according  to 
the  last  census  there  is  left  stamling  not  more  than  eighty  thousand 
million  feet  of  white  pine  in  the  whole  country. 

The  protective  sy;-;tem,  as  applied  to  sugar,  is  not  justifiable,  be- 
cause it  is  imj>ossi1)le  that  with  the  utmost  possible  protection  the  pro- 
]»roduction  can  be  so  stimulated  as  to  give  us  a  good  supply 
from  home  sonrces.  It  was  because  the  farms  of  Great  IJritain  were 
incapable  of  producing  enough  wheat  to  feed  the  ])eoplc  of  the  British 
Isles  that  the  corn  laws  became  indefensible,  and  the  repeal  of  them 
was  wise  and  necessary.  It  is  the  same  with  sugar  in  this  country  ; 
and  it  is  even  more  strongly  the  same  with  respect  to  lumbiM*.  Instead 
of  increasing  under  the  stimulus  of  the  tariff,  our  forests  are  d!sa])i)ear- 
ing  so  rapidly  tlnit  in  a  very  few  years  there  will  be  nothing  left  to 
|)rotect.  Wood  is  a  prime  necessity,  and  will  always  be  so.  Notwith- 
standing the  use  of  stone  and  brick  in  building,  and  the  abundance  of 
coal  for  fuel  in  England,  enormous  (juantities  of  wood  ari'  im])ort- 
ed  into  that  country  annually.  It  must  always  be  the  same  with  us, 
after  our  forests  have  beeii  exhausted.  Meantime,  we  are  not  dimii 
ishing  the  consumption  of  lumber  by  the  tarifl',  nor  are  we  inducing 
anyborly  to  cultivate  forests  for  timber,  b  .t  we  are  enabling  the  own- 
ers of  woodlands  to  obtain  a  high  price  for  their  lumber.  In  short, 
the  protective  tarifi"  benefits  nobody  but  these  lumber  kings. 

Finally,  the  abrogation  of  the  (bity  is  called  for  by  the  necessity 
w»'  are  under  of  j)rotecting  our  forests  in  order  to  protect  ourselves. 
Instead  of  destroying  our  own  forests  we  can  destroy  those  of  Canada. 
And  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  protection  of  forests  means 
something  more  thnn  keeping  up  a  supply  of  lumber.     The  ])roduction 


27 


nibcr  they 
jrotfction  ? 
'  pi-oducors 
I'niess  ii 
I  it  is  ira- 
to  maintain 
•y  requires 
ity.  How 
wliolo  bur- 
mo  forests, 
ired  in  tlie 
I  ad  a,  Avhieli 
even  thou- 
^cordinii;  to 
i    tliousand 


of  lumber  is  by  no  means  the  most  imjiortant  function  of  the  forests  ; 
the  part  they  play  in  inoderatinii-  climate,  in  proteetinij  the  surface 
of  tlie  irround,  and  in  re<>nihitintj  the  flow  of  streams,  and  in  preserviiiij 
springs,  i;:  now  well  understood  by  scientitie  men,  and  we  cannot  safe- 
Iv  continue  the  rate  of  forest  destruction  which  is  now  ifoino;  ou  in 
every  part  of  the  country  without  serious  danger  to  our  future  pros- 
perity. As  a  step,  then,  towards  checking  tlie  destruction  of  our  for- 
ests, for  the  removal  of  this  duty  can  only  delay  for  a  few  years  thei 
Hnal  extinction  of  the  white  pine  forests  of  the  North,  we  urijjc  u|)on 
Congress  the  necessity  of  placing  lumbei-  and  forest  ))roducts  of  all 
sorts,  entering  the  United  States,  upon  the  free  list.  If  there  is  any 
place  for  protection  in  this  schedule  it  is  u])on  furniture,  woodenware 
and  other  manufactures  which  recpiire  something  more  than  a  saw-mill 
for  their  ])roduction. 


'ifiable,   be- 
ion  till'  pro- 
ood   supply 
ritain  were 
the  British 
il  of  them 
s  country  ; 
Instead 
disa]>pear- 
ing  left  to 
Notwith- 
undance  of 
ire   imjtort- 
e    with   us, 
not  dimii 
f    inducing 
g  the  own- 
In   short, 

necessity 
:  ourselves, 
of  Canada. 
ests  means 
])roduction 


(Spi'i.n(iP\i<l  liipvhlican,  Jait.  IQf/i,  1S8.'1.) 

TIIK    Ll'MniOi;    TAKIl'F. 

Apparently  neither  the  Seiiate  Finance  Committee  nor  lie  Ways 
and  Means  Committee  of  the  House  ])!-oposes  to  (jualify  the  duty  on 
lumber  whicii  thi-  Taritt'  Commission  left  as  it  was  at  |2  per  M.  If 
wc  had  an  unli-nited  sup[)ly  of  lumber  so  that  we  could  draw  upon 
oui'  own  resources  without  fear  of  exhaustion,  or  if  timber  <rro\vin«r 
had  become  so  well  naturalized  as  to  insure  an  unfailing  supply  by  a 
new  growth,  there  might  be  some  excuse  for  this  imposition.  As  it 
is,  it  simjdy  shuts  out  the  Canadian  supply  and  puts  a  bounty  on  the 
sweeping  off  of  our  own  forests.  It  does  not  ''protect''  the  forests 
but  destroys  them,  enriching  the  lumber  niille:s,  l)ut  impoverishing 
the  people  an<l  inducing  climatic  changes  and  results  of  the  greatest 
gravity. 

The  census  bureau  investigation  was  able  to  tiiid  only  8."i,()00,<>nO  M 
of  white  pine  lumber  standing  in  the  United  States,  \\hich  at  th(>  outside 
would  represent  ten  years'  supply,  at  the  present  rate  of  c  Iting.  The 
Canadian  supply  is  estimated  at  less,  but  probal)ly  approaches  in  amount 
the  American.  The  Canadian  competition  with  our  own  forest>  is  in 
white  pine  and  s))ruce. — two  of  the  most  serviceable  and  Avidely  used 
woods  in  all  the  commoner  uses  to  which  lumber  is  put.  The  South- 
ern supply  is  largely  of  hard  pine,  and  the  American  broad-leaved 
hanl  woods  can  be  ijrown  much  more  readilv  than  a  yood  (lualitv  of 
pine. 


28 

Prof.  ('.  S.  tSargont  who  liud  charge  of  the  forestry  statistics,  found 
staiKling  May  31,  1S8(>,  47r),000  M  of  white  j)iue  in  Maine,  a, 000,000 
M  of  spruce.  During  the  year  ending  at  that  date  there  was  out  in 
the  same  State  i:)8,825  M  feet  of  pine  and  .'K)1,000  M  feet  of  spruce. 
But  in.  Maine  more  attention  is  paid  tluin  elsewhere  to  tlie  seh'ction  of 
oUl  trees  for  market  and  the  growth  ot  young  ones,  allowing  tlie  for- 
ests to  be  prolital)ly  worked  at  stated  periods  of  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-tive  years.  In  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  the  white  pine 
is  exliaustcd,  and  tlie  spruce  standing  in  1880  was  estimated  at  1,510,000 
and  755,000  M,  res])ectively.  But  the  destruction  by  one  company 
alone  in  Essex  <'ounty,  \'ermont,  the  i)resetit  winter  will  be  80,000  M. 

We  believe  that  forestry  growing  is  destined  to  be  a  j)roiltable  in- 
terest in  this  country,  i)nt  our  peo|)le  do  not  take  leadily  to  invest- 
ments which  make  slow  reiuriis.  In  the  intei'val  it  does  not  seem 
wise  to  aggreijate  the  threatened  destitution  b\  excluding  the  Cana- 
dian  pine  and  spruce.  Everything  which  enters  into  the  construction 
of  duellings  aflFects  the  j)eople  most  direccly.  Besidi's.  as  Prof.  Sar- 
gent s)u)wed  in  some  of  his  recent  talks  to  farmers,  there  are  numer- 
ous industries  in  wooden  ware  of  great  nggregati'  magnitude,  wliich 
depcml  ujion  a  steady  and  reliable  supi)ly  of  a  stock  at  reasonuble 
rates.  Take  off  the  duties  and  sj»;ire  our  own  forests,  for  the  jtresent 
at  least. 


{'J7ie    World,  Xew  York,  JdiiiKfr;/ IX,  \\m:^.) 

TIIR    LUMIJKJJ    SWINDLE    IN    CONiiRKSS. 

Mr.  "■'  *  *  the  inde}tendent  and  public-spirited  Senator  from 
Nebraska,  yesterday  made  an  emphatic  protest  against  one  partic- 
ularly outrageous  swindle  of  the  tariff.  Me  moved  to  strike  out  the 
wliole  list  of  duties  on  wood  and  woodenware  and  let  all  these  things 
in  tluty  free.  This  was  a  ]>atriotic  j»ro])osition,  and  was  naturally  oj»- 
j)osi'd  by  *  *  who  repri-seiits  the  men  wh(»  are  anxious  to  clear  out 
what  is  left  of  the  forests  of  Michigan,  and  *  *  who  represents  the 
men  who  are  anxious  to  clear  out  what  is  left  of  the  forests  of  .Maine. 
These  greedy  creatures  in  asking  for  a  duty  on  timber  or  its  products 
are  simply  askii>g  for  a  liounty  to  be  given  them  for  making  awav 
with  the  i)atrinu)ny  of  the  country.  The  fact  is  that  then  is  now  onlv 
eight  years'  supply  of  white  pine  left  i^  the  country.  In  round  num- 
bers, half  the  supj)ly  in  the  markets  of  the  Eastern  States  comes  from 


i 


r^asfS'^j 


U's,  founc] 
0,000,000 
as  cut  in 
)f  spruce, 
lection  of 
i  tlic  for- 
iftccn    to 
liitc   |)inc 
1,510,000 
company 
0,000  M. 
i tabic    in- 
o   iiivost- 
lot    seem 
he  Cana- 
st  ruction 
*rof.  Sar- 
'   nunier- 
c,    which 
■asdiiable 
I'  lUH'sent 


or  from 
*  partic- 
out  the 
e  things 
rally  oj)- 
•Icar  out 
icnts  the 
■  Maine. 
•roductK 
g  away 
ow  only 
k!  num- 
es  from 


Canada  and  half  from  the  lower  peninsula  of  Michigan.     In  the  latter 
there  were  in  1880  estimated  to  be  twenty-nine  thousand  millions  of 
feet    remaining,    and    since    then    nine    thousand   millions    of    feet 
have   been   cut    and    marketed,    leaving   at   this   rate   between    four 
and  five  years'  Hupply  still  available.    It  is  this  supply  whicli  we  ought 
to  take  some  measures  for  preserving  and  protecting  that  *     *     *  and 
his  clients  insist  we  shall  clear  out  as  fast  as  possible.      A  pine  tree  is 
not  marketable  until  it  is  fifty  years  of  age,  and  at   that  Jige  only  be- 
gins to  make  clear  lumber.     The  clear  lumber,  which  ten  years  ago 
formed     13    per    cent,    of  the  whole   supply    from     Michigan,   now 
forms  only  3  per  cent,    of  the    whole.      This    lumber    comes  from 
trees  between  the  ages  of  seventy-live  and  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
live  years  ;  and  the  diminution  from  more  than  one-ninth  to  less  than 
one-thirtieth  of  the  whole  supply  contributed  by  such  trees  means  that 
virtually  all  of  them  that  are  accessible  have  already  been  cut.     How 
their  rei)lacement  is  to  be  secured  is  the  problem  that  ought  to  agitate 
statesmen.     The  problem  that  does  agitate  statesmen  of  the  school  of 
*     '^^    and  of     ■•'     *   is  how  can  the  rest  of  the  forest  be  most  speedily 
and  effectually  cleared,  and  a  bounty  for  clearing  them,  in  the  form  of 
a  duty  upon  the  competing  product  of  Canada,  is  the  device  formed 
by  these  statesmen  for  that  end.   We  have  seen  tiiat  the  supply  of  the 
lower  peninsula  of   Michigan  will  be  exhausted,  at  the  present  rate  of 
cutting,  in  less  than  live  years.     The   pine  forests  of  Maine,   at  the 
present  rate  of  cutting,  will  disappear  in  seven  years.     Mr.     *     *     * 
of  Michigan,  and  Mr,    *     *    of  Maine,  think  it  better  that  their  lum- 
bering constituents  should  have  large  profits  and  quick  returns  than 
that  the  next  generation  should  have  any  timber  to  cut.     But  there  is 
no  reason  why  other  Senators  should  not  deem  it  more  important  that 
the  forests  shouhi  be  preserved  than  that  *     *     and   *      *  should  con- 
tinue to  adorn  the  Senate  by  dint  of  grinding  the  axes  of  their  tiraber- 
cuttine:  constituents. 


{T/ir  >Snn,  New   Voy/c,  Jum/a/'//  2'3<7,   1883.) 
LUMBER. 

We  observe  with  regret  that  some  of  the  re])resentatives  of  Mich- 
igan are  mucli  excited  at  the  proposal  to  admit  Canadian  lumber  free 
o(  duty,  by  way  of  ])reserving  a  little  longer  the  pine  forests  of  that 
State,  as  well  as  those  of  our  Northern  country. 

The  speedy  destruction  of  the  forests  of  Micliigan  will  prove  a  ca- 


w 


i 


ii ' 


30 

lamity  ol'  which  itts  }»reseiit  iiu'inhers  ol"  Congress  appear  to  have  no 
adequate  concej)ti()i).  These  forests  can  never  l>e  rej)rocliU!ecl,  and  it 
is  the  ))art  of  wisdom  t<»  preserve  tliem.  Hy  judiciously  and  gradually 
thinniiii;  them  out,  thev  may  be  made  to  last  for  ages,  and  vet  furnish 
as  much  luml»er  as  is  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  peo))le.  On  the  other 
hand,  l)y  destroying  them  at  once  a  few  lumber  speculators  may  get 
rich,  but  the  State  will  be  permanently  impoverished. 

This  is  not  a  question  of  protection  or  free  trade.  It  involves  no 
controversy  respecting  the  develoi)meiit  among  us  of  any  branch  of 
useful  industry.  Wliy,  then,  sliould  we  hasten  the  destruction  of  our 
forests?  Why  should  we  |)romote  such  a  disaster,  when  the  Canadian 
woods  are  ready  to  be  drawn  ui)on  ?  Do  our  legislators  think  it  their 
duty  to  take  better  care  of  Canada  than  they  take  of  their  own 
country  V 

Al!  lumber  should  be  admitted  free  of  duty.  Even  protectionists 
should  vote  for  this  measure,  because  it  tends  to  ])rote('t  the  interests 
of  our  own  country. 


:>■' 


{77ie  f<t(tr,  A\'W    York,  Janunri/,  1880.) 

LKT    LU.NriiKlt    UK    I'KKK. 

Were  it  known  tluit  the  whole  su|tply  t)f  iron  and  anthracite  coal 
remaining  in  the  mines  of  the  United  States  would  be  exhausted  in 
less  than  a  dozen  years  at  the  ])resent  rate  of  production,  no  one  would 
for  a  moment  dream  of  e.xcluding  iron  and  coal  by  a  protective  tariff. 
Any  step  which  could  be  taken  to  posti>one  such  calamities  as  would 
follow  the  exhaustion  of  these  articles  of  priine  necessity  would  be 
eagerly  taken.  Pine  and  si)ruce  lumber  are  also  articles  of  prime  ne- 
cessity ;  and  we  know  that  at  the  present  rate  of  consumption  the 
spruce  and  white  pine  lumber  remaining  in  the  United  States  must 
disappear  in  something  less  than  a  dozen  years,  unless  the  present  rate 
of  consumpti<m  can  be  checked.  But  the  forests  of  Canada  still  con- 
tain large  quantities  of  this  lumber,  and  by  admitting  the  Canadian 
lumber  to  free  competition  in  our  markets,  our  own  forests  would  be 
[)roteeted  and  their  devastation  checked.  Every  builder  in  the  country 
is  anxious  for  the  remission  of  this  duty.  The  lumbermen  of  Maine 
and  the  Northwest,  who  have  secured  vast  tracts  of  timber  lands, 
oppose  it.  The  Tariff  C'onmiission,  captured  by  the  lumbermen  at 
Chii  ago,  recommended  the  retention  of  the  duty.     The  Committee  of 


31 


Ways  and  Means  of  tlu?  Ilousf,  and  tlii'  Finance  Commit  tec  of  the 
Senate,  in  response  to  the  tn-gc!)t  demands  of  the  representatives  of 
Maine  and  the  Xortli western  himber  States  in  (\>ngres8,  approve  the 
recommendation  of  the  committee.  Senator  *  *  *  declared  that  the 
himber  of  Maine  should  be  protected  as  well  as  the  iron  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  sugar  of  Louisiana  ;  but  in  spite  of  his  energetic  i)ro- 
testations,  the  Senate  voted  to  |»ut  himber  on  the  free  list,  -whidi  has 
brouglit  a  powerful  lobby  interest  to  Washington  to  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  tlie  bill.  And  there  is  too  much  reason  for  believing  that  th^ 
lumber  monopoly  will  carry  its  point  in  the  House  or  in  the  Confer- 
ence Committee  before  the  measure  is  whipped  into  shape  for  final 
action.  Free  lumber  would  tend  directly  to  save  the  forests  of  the 
country,  which,  once  destroyed,  cannot  be  easily  restored,  if  restored 
at  all.  The  interests  of  all  classes,  save  the  lumber  speculators, 
require  that  tliis  article  s^hould  be  free. 


{The   MctroitoUtdn    Industrial  Leagfie.) 

WOOD. 

The  principle  and  j)olicy  of  the  League  is  "true  })rotection  and 
justice  to  all  American  Industries,"  based  upon  our  true  conditions  and 
possibility  of  future  developments  and  say  respecting  lumber  : 

It  appears  so  umiatural  that  we  should  consume  ourselves  first  and 
then  depend  on  the  chance  generosity  of  others  that  the  free  admis- 
sion of  timber  is  recommended.  Canada  will  doubtless  protect 
herself. 

{SoutJwrn  Lumherman,  Nashrille^  Jan.  \st,  1883.) 

TIMBER    TARIFF    AUSIRDITY, 

The  report  of  the  Tariff  Commission  naturally  excites  a  great  deal 
of  attention,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  the  object  of  high  commendation 
on  the  })art  of  })rotection  journals,  as  naturally  subjects  it  to  a  good 
deal  of  suspicion.  It  certainly,  in  the  words  of  the  New  York  Post^ 
although  more  enlightened  than  it  was  generally  expected  to  be,  con- 
tains some  very  glaring  absurdities.  An  instance  of  absurdity  ap- 
pears with  respect  to  the  timber  duties,  recommendini;  that  they 
shor.ld  be  retained.  The  absurdity  of  this  is  a])parent,  when  we  re- 
member that  with  great  cause  we  are  complaining  of  the  demolition 
of  our  forests,  and  our  government  offers  bounties  to  induce  persons 
to  plant  trees  upon  public  lands.  To  offer  a  premium  to  extend  our 
stock  of  growing  timber,  and  then  give  an  inducement  of  twenty  per 
cent,  to  cut  it  down,  is  one  of  the  most  complete  absurdities  that  can 
be  pointed  out. 


S2 


{Jiomr  JJaifi/  Sentinel^  Jau.  8,  l^ss:i.) 

TMK    FOUKSTS    AND    TIIK    TARIFF. 

I3y  rc'cominoiidiii*;  llic  retention  >f'  tlio  duty  upon  lumber  enterinp^ 
the  Unite*!  States,  the  Connnittoe  of  Wmvs  and  Means  lian  aimed  a 
blow  at  forest  protection  that  generally  finds  no  favor  amonir  the 
people  who  have  given  the  subjeet  due  attention. 

As  a  matter  of  course  it  is  folly  to  tax  foreign  lumber  as  far  as  the 
national  treasury  is  c(uu*erned.  The  duties  which  arc  collected  by 
the  government  in  this  way  are  very  small.  Neither  can  the  lumber 
industry  be  said  to  ucimI  the  protection.  It  is  one  of  those  inclustries 
Avhicli  have  long  since  passed  their  infancy  and  have  reached  a  vigor- 
ous manhood.  It  has  outlived  the  necessity  of  protection  supposing 
it  ever  needed  it,  Tlu!  manufacturers  of  lumber  are  powerful,  even 
to  tlie  extent  of  forming  a  monopoly,  and  they  have  grown  rich  from 
the  ]»rici's  which  taxation  of  foreign  lumber  lias  enabled  them  to 
charge  the  consumer  of  domestic  lund)er. 

Hut  it  is  clear  that  the  permission  to  buy  Canadian  lumber  free 
from  tariff  restrictions  and  demands,  will  cause  a  decreased  drain  upon 
the  forests  of  our  own  country.  What  tlie  trees  of  America  need  is 
a  chance  to  grow  and  multii)Iy.  It  is  well  understood  tliat  the  de- 
struction of  the  forests  means  severe  climatic  changes,  that  the  eflFect 
upon  rivers  and  streams  will  be  such  as  to  work  iiu-alculable  injury  to 
the  agriculture,  manufactures  and  commerce  of  the  country.  These 
evils  are  hurried  on  by  the  retention  of  the  protective  duty,  which 
virtually  tells  tlie  people  that  they  must  cut  down  their  own  trees  first 
befoie  they  can  hope  to  go  into  a  foreign  m;»rket  to  buy  their  wood 
without  any  tariff  charges  to  i)ay.  Meantime  the  prosperity  of  the 
country  is  threatened  that  a  little  company  of  men  wlio  are  already 
rich,  may  add  something  more  to  their  hoards. 

This  Tariff  sharpens  every  woodman's  axe.  It  encourages  prospec- 
tive wreck  and  ruin. 

{The  Chicago  Tribune,  February  3,  1883.) 

TIIK    LUMISER    BARONs'    PETITION. 

Four  respectable  and  worthy  gentlemen  in  this  city — large  owners 
of  Michigan  pine-lands — have  issued  an  addrops  to  all  persons  engaged 
in  the  lumber  trade  to  obtain  signatures  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  a 
petition  which  they  have  prepared,  and  wliich  they  forward  with  the 
address.  This  petition  is  addressed  to  Congress,  and  we  reproduce  it 
that  the  public  generally  may  see  how  in  an  emergency  even  such  re- 


V 


5 


33 


^pec- 


vners 
aged 
to  a 
the 
ice  it 
ill  re- 


spectable gentlemen  will  resort  to  statements  s«>  utterly  inc«tni|irehen- 
sible  that  they  wouhl,  if  uttered  by  otliers,  be  classed  as  exaggera- 
tions unbecoming  churchmen  of  their  own  high  standing.  The  peti- 
tion rej)resents  that  the  signers  do  : 

Most  respectfully  rtMiHiustiatciiirainst  the  pioposilion  now  before  your  ln)n(iriil)lo 
bodies,  iiiu.  adopted  in  the  Senate  of  the  L'nited  Stales,  lookitijr  to  the  admission 
of  the  manufactured  lumber  of  the  Province  of  Caiiada  to  tlie  markets  of  tlu; 
riiil<''l  States  free  from  duty,  to  luinously  compete  witli  h  traflic  triving  (  niploy- 
ment  to  fully  one  million  ial)orers  and  involvinir  <'Mpital  of  not  less  than  sfliDO, ()()("),- 
000  in  its  prosecution.     I'ririui:  that  the  admission  of  Canadian  lumlwr  free  from 
duty  would  be  but  adding  tiie  present  rate  of  the  duty  to  value  of  Canadian  stand- 
ing timber,  opening  up  a  competition  injurious  to  Anuricau  mamifacturerH.  while 
not  decreasing'  the  cost  of  building  material  to  tiie  milli()ns  who  form  the  consum- 
ing classes.     Urging,  further,  tiial  so  h)ng  as  the  Canadian  (JovernnK'nt   retains 
th<'  tax  upon  linuher  imporledjnto  Canada,  it  is  manifestly  unjust  to  admit  Cana- 
dian lumber  free,  wiiile  the  Anerican  product,  now  largely  in  demand  in  VVin- 
nepeg   and    some   otlier    portions   of  tlie    Dominion    of    Canada,    is    iiurdened 
with  ii  la.<,  thus  elfectiiall}'  yivintr  to  tlie  Canadian  product  the  control  of  the 
markets  of  this  country  by  llie  admission  of  their  lumber  product  free  in  the  East- 
ern States,  wliitlier  it  is  most  largely  imported;  and  as  well  c  Mitrol  of  the  Western 
markets  tlirough  their  ability  to  exclude  the  American  product,  e.\ce[)t  upon  pay 
ment  of  duties,  from  Winnepeg.  to  wiiich  their  own  lumber  may  bo  sent  without 
duty. 

The  statements  of  this  petition  are  most  remarkable.  It  asserts 
\  that  the  "  manufiictured"  lumber  of  Canada  is  to  be  admitted  with- 

out tax,  and  by  manufactured  lumber  is  intended  the  rough  i)roduct 
of  the  saw  mill. 

This  lumber  is  Intended  for  the  use  of  Western  farmers  for  fencing, 
for  outhouses,  bains,  and  sheds,  for  all  rough  building  ptirposes,  for 
rej)airs  and  sidewalks,  aiid  countless  purposes  for  which  rotigli  ])ine 
lumber  can  be  emjduycd.  To  admit  this  lumber  for  consumers  free 
of  tax,  it  is  declared,  will  be  ''ruinously"  to  compete  Avich  American 
lumber.  For  whom  is  this  government  established  ?  Do  the  handful 
of  capitalists  who  own  the  renniants  of  the  pine  forests  consume  this 
lumber?  Do  they  pay  the  tax  which  is  collected  from  it?  Do  they 
produce  the  pine  forests  which  they  hold  possession  of  and  which  for 
purposes  of  insatiable  greed  they  are  rapidly  destroying  ?  The  ])er- 
sons  who  are  demanding  and  exacting  this  tax  on  the  people  of  llli- 
inois,  Iowa,  Kansas  and  Nebraska  have  neither  produced  the  forests 
nor  are  they  consumers.  They  are  nothing  more  than  toll-gatherers 
standing  at  the  gates  and  taking  in  a  tax  from  tlie  millions  of  con- 
sumers  in  the  treeless  States  to  whom  lumber  \»  an  article  of  ])rime 
necessity,  but  who  are  overcharged  by  these  speculators  in  stumpage 
and  logs.  They  have  the  hardihood  to  say  that  this  tax  is  levied  for 
the  benefit  of  the  "traffic."     That  is  to  say,  not  for  the  axemen  or  the 


, 


34 


ranncrs  wlio  l)uy  the  sttitT,  Imt  for  tlio  nKin  who  "  tnifiic  "— that  is,  do 
Avliat  llu'y  can  to  ijct  tlie  advantage  of  each  other. 

Mr.  .  ai-p^Miter  and  thi-  other  <,'entliMn"n  wlio  tralVic  in  liiinher  make 
the  monstrous  assertion  tliat  tlie  hiiiibcr   business    wliich  needs  '' pro- 
teetion"  ^ives  employment  to  -  lully  l,t)i)(),0():i   hihon-rs."     Even   for 
gentlemen    who   "swap"   fish    yarns   this  tin;urL'  is  a  lari^e  one.     The 
census  reports  show  that    in    I8S()   the    whole   numln-r  of  persons  en- 
craivcl  ill  the  United  States  in  tlie  lumber  business  was  loO,!?!^  males, 
4:{;{  females,  ;ind  5, '.17  I  ehildren!    That  is  a  |)retty  large  fraction  short, 
even  in  lumber  measure,  of  "fully  1,()()0,00(>  laborers."     Throwin,';-  in 
the  women  and  chil(lr(>n,  the  whole  is  considerably  short  of  a  million  ! 
I>ut  these  gentlemen  s]ieak  only  for  a  }'  )rtiou  ttf  the  three  States  of 
3Iichigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,*  and  the  census  gives  tlie  whole 
nund)er  of  men  engaged  in  felling,  sawing,  and  planing  lumber  not 
only  in  these  three  States,  but  in  all  the  other  thirty-five  States  and 
the  Territories  ;  and  not  only  of  the  pine  himber  of  these  three  States, 
but  of  all  the  various  kinds  of  lumber  in  all   the  States  of  the  I'nion. 
Moreover,  the  census  returns  show  that  the  whole  number  of  males 
of  16  years  an<l  over  engaged  in  all  the  industrial  mechanical  employ- 
ments of  the  United  States  was  2,025,506.     Mr.  Van  Schaick  and  the 
other  gentlemen  send    forth    undtr  their  certification   the  statement 
that  "fully  1,000,000  of  laborers"  are   employed  in  lumber-making — 
that  is,  one-half  the  American  males  over  It;  years  of  age  working  foi- 
wages  in  the   whole  United  States  at   industrial  oc(Uipations  are  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  trade,  and  this,  too,  without  including  the  w<^men 
and  children.     Messrs.  Carpenter  and  Van   Schaick  send  the  petition 
containing  this  marvelous  statement  to  their  customers,  with  an  ap- 
peal that  it  be  signed  and  sent  to  Senator     *     *     *     «<  ^„([  j^  ,j^j^y  ,iQt 
yet   be   too  late"  to  save  the  million  of  laborers  who  are  threatened 
with  "  ruin  !  " 


» 


k 


*  Tlie  census  returns  for  1880  of  the  Luuitiering  Industry  s;ive  total  average  number  of  hands 
employcil.  includini,'  wonicii  and  cliildicn.  in  Michigan,  31,'~'33;  in  Wisconsin.  8,4(15;  in  Minnesota, 
•J,8.")4;  nuilviiii^  in  all  85, rw-.'.  'I'licse  fj<'ntlenion.  of  course,  meant  when  talking;  of  millions, tliose  that 
have  to  pay  them  the  extra  $3  per  M  on  lumber  the  duty  inlpoHe^^.  J5ut,  however  many  nuiy  be 
employed  prodiicinu  lumber,  does  any  sane  man  fancy  there  would  l)e  one  man  less  employed  in 
this  country  were  the  duly  removed.  'I'he  oidy  etl'ect  the  removal  of  the  duty  would  have  would 
be  to  allow  Canadian  lumber  to  compete  witli  "them,  iuul  possibly  reduce  somewhat  the  enormous 
profits  of  a  few  lumbernun  and  land  speculators.  Take  for  instance  the  two  establishments  with 
which  these  two  f;entlemen  are  coninxted,  which  sawed  in  188;J  nearly  120,000,000  feet,  or  about  ons 
(juarter  of  tlie  annual  inii)ort  of  this  lunilx'r  from  Canada— the  duty  on  this  at  %'i  would  be 
g210,0(Kl.  Th(^  dift'erence  of  the  comiietilion  mi<,'ht  be  to  reduce  tlieir  yearly  revenue  from  about 
88  per  M,  or  §'.H)0,000,  to  ^(5  per  M,  or  g7:i(»,0(X).  Still  with  this  amount  comini;  in  yearly  there 
would  be  but  slif^ht  danfjer  or  their  i;o:nt;  to  the  Poor  House,  and  it  inijrilt  be  some  little  relief  to 
the  poor  people  who  are  now  compelled  to  pay  them  about  any  jirice  they  choose  to  ask. 

A  scnnewhat  noted  Senator  once  remarked,  that  about  the  only  thiiiK  meaner  than  $5(K).000  was 
S1,0()0,(X)0.  One  wjuld  he  led,  from  the  action  of  these  gentlemen,  to  oelievc  that  the  only  thing 
meaner  than  a  poor  lumberman  was  a  rich  one. 


^ 


35 

• 

Th^'  petition  does  not  mi'iition  what  proportion  of  the  lumber  cut- 
ters in  Michigan  and  other  States  are  CJanatlians  hrouucht  to  tiiis  coun- 
try to  c()mpete  at  h)vv  wages  with  tiie  rest  of  the  million  to  tax  the 
farmers  of  the  treeless  States. 

The  pi'titiou  asks  intelligent  persons,  (!ven  himber  dealers,  to  certify 
to  Congress  that  to  remove  the  tax  from  lumber  would  be  to  add 
that  much  to  the  value  of  Canadian  lu:<iber.  If  the  repeal  of  the  tax 
on  lumber  will  not  admit  Canadian  lumber  cheaper  than  our  lumber 
where,  when,  and  how  is  the  "  ruin  "  to  take  place?, 

The  Canadian  (Toverinnent  will  not  admit  Michigan  lumber  into 
AV'in!iipeg  freif  of  tax,  and  the  reason  is,  that  Canadian  lui  ber  is  taxed 
in  this  country  and  has  been  for  years.  Their  tax  is  in  retaliation  for 
ours.  The  repeal  of  the  American  tax  will,  of  course,  be  followed  by 
the  repeal  of  the  tax  collected  at  Wiiniipeg. 

Thi«  petition  is  a  most  ^ludiitrous  exhibition  of  the  rage  of  the  "fully 
1,00(),0()()  of  American  laborers"  ;it  the  prospect  of  a  repeal  of  a  tax 
under  which  the  consumers  of  American  luml)er  have  seen  the  price 
of  lumbei"  rise  from  $-1  to  $0  |)er  thousand  feet  during  the  last  four 
years.     We  reproduce  tlie  Ciiicago  prices  of  lumber  since  1878  : 

Nov.  15,  1878.              Not.  9,  1883.  Adv.  p.  c. 

A  Stock  board.s .$ii4  00                    .f :{0  00  25 

Fcnciiiu-,   No.  1 10  00                        K!  00  66 

Fciicinu-,  No.  3 0  00                       18  00  44 

Oommon  Imiuds 10  50@11  00  15  00(gil8  00  HOOftS 

Oiiiu'iision  .stiitT,  SO  to  :}(>  f(!((t  long.  10  ()0@1«  00  10  r)0@23  00  65@43 

Picket.-,  lougli - 7  00                      13  00  78 

Shingle.s  standiird 3  25                        2  00  28 

Lath. 150                        2  75  83 

Now,  suppose  the  effect  of  the  rejjeal  of  the  bounty  the  Illinois 
farmers  pay  to  Mesers.  Carpenter,  Van  Schaick,  et  (d.,  should  happily 
be  to  reduce  the  present  excessively  high  price  of  lumber  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  prairie  States  by  $2  per  1,000  feet,  would  it  not  be  aj)ublic 
))lessing  to  millions  of  toilers,  and  would  it  not  still  leave  a  big  price 
and  a  large  profit  for  the  speculator  in  pine  lands'* 

The  Albany  i)rices  for  the  three  up})er  qualities  show  the  follow- 
ing  changes  in  three  years; 

September,  187!».  September.  1882.  Adv.  p.  c. 

Clear $40  to  |42  $C3  to  ,f64  56 

Fourihs 35  to    37  57  to    59  61 

Selects .• 30  to    33  52  to    54  71 


GENEEAL   OBSERVATIONS 


AOOOMPANYINQ  PAMPHLET  ON  FOREST  PROTECTION. 


The  compiler  of  this  Paniplilet  has  been  advised  of  excellent  arti- 
cles liavins:  a])peared  in  other  papers,  but  those  inserted  therein,  were 
all  that  came  under  his  own  observation,  or  of  which  he  could  immedi- 
ately obtain  copies.  He  had  also  in  his  possession,  nuist  valuable  arti- 
cles written  by  gentlemen  who  have  devoted  time  and  labor,  in  call- 
ing the  attention  of  the  public,  to  this,  the  most  important  economic 
question  of  the  day — one,  before  which  all  others  sink  into  insignifi- 
cance in  comparison  ;  for  nothing  can  be  more  true,  than  the  remarks 
of  "  The  Glasgow  (Scotland)  Herald  "  when  reviewing  an  article  on 
the  subject  in  18V6,  which  says  :  "  The  knowledge  we  have  gained  of 
a  dearth  of  cotton  may  help  us  to  appreciate  '  the  terribleness  of  the 
calamity  that  would  be  experienced  from  a  dearth  of  timber'  in  Can- 
ada and  the  States.  In  point  o"  fact,  both  Canada  and  the  States  are 
busy  sawing  from  under  them  the  high-reaching,  fortune-making 
branch,  on  which,  like  conquerors,  tliey  are  now  sittuig  and  overlook- 
ing the  world." 

When  we  consider  the  importance  that  an  abundance  of  the  most 
valuable  timber  has  had  on  the  past  welfare  of  the  country,  and  come 
to  realize  what  "a  dearth  of  timber  "  means,  all  will  readily  see  that 
the  foregoing  is  by  no  means  an  overdrawn  statement.  If  we  also  con- 
sider the  fact,  that  every  human  being  in  this  country,  must  have 
timber  in  some  form  or  another  for  his  jirotection  or  comfort — t^hat 
our  shelter  is  of  timber,  the  floors  we  walk  on,  the  chairs  we  sit  on, 
the  tables  we  eat  from,  the  conveyances  we  use  ;  even  our  cradles  and 
coffins  are  of  wood  ;  we  can  readily  see  that  in  one  form  or  another 
"we  must  have  timber. 

Tlie  great  ingenuity  of  "the  everlasting  Yankee  "has  not  even  yet 
touched  the  subject.  Notwithstanding  the  fences  of  wire,  the  use 
of   iron    in    building,    the    terra  cotta    atid  straw-lunber,    still    the 


i   »    *  i  1   •    J 


consumption  of  our  old  friend  wooden  lumber  increased  nearly 
fifty  percent,  in  the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1«80,  the  former  being 
12.755.54:5.000,  and  Ihe  latter  18,091,850,000  feet,  and  tliough  it 
has  always  been  claimed  that  iron  and  lumber  keep  together,  cheap 
lumber  accompanying  cheap  iron,  we  now  finil  iron  so  low  that 
producers  claim  they  are  at  the  lowest  rung  of  the  ladder,  whilo 
lumber  has  advanced  in  three  years  fully  50  per  cent.,  with  every 
pi'ospect  of  still  further  increase  ;  and  yet  we,  in  the  north,  are 
infonned  that  we  are  within  eight  years  of  the  time  when  our  sup- 
plies of  white  pine  and  spruce,  which  are  our  great  stock  of  this 
indispensible  material,  must  cease  ;  and  this  is  not  the  stateinent  of 
interested  parties,  which  might  be  open  to  suspicion,  but  of  those 
specially  employed  by  the  government  of  the  country  to  ascertain  the 
true  coixlition  of  the  forests. 

It  will  no  doubt  be  said,  "what  of  this,  there  are  still  vast  forests 
in  the  south  to  be  drawn  upon  V  "  This  may  be  a  matter  of  great 
value  to  the  south,  but  to  the  people  of  the  north,  who  now  nuxke 
and  use  five-sixths  of  the  sawed  lumber  produced,  it  is  a  matter 
of  the  most  serious  importance.  The  value  of  the  lumber  now  pro- 
duced in  the  north  exceeds  !5'200,(iOO,000  a  year  as  it  falls  froni  the 
saw — that  it  is  all  wanted  there  can  be  no  better  evidence  than  the 
fact  that  demand  and  price  arc  both  increasing — and  to  replace  it 
would  cost  from  two  to  three  times  this  sum,  even  if  the  s.ame  lumber 
could  be  obtained  elsewhere,  which  cannot  be  ;  and  1500,000,000  a 
year  would  not  replace  it  ;  so  that  in  a  verj^  short  time  this  northren 
country,  instead  of  having  a  great  and  profitable  industry,  advancing 
and  helping  every  interest,  will  be  called  upon  to  pay  out  hundreds 
of  millions  of  dollars  annually  for  such  material. 

But  even  our  southern  +"rieuds  are  interested  with  us  in  the  jjreservation 
of  this  timber,  as  the  uses  to  which  it  is  applied  are  so  different  from 
theirs,  that  large  quantities  are  aimually  sent  south,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Canada,  recognizingthis  fact,  while  imposing  a  retaliatory  duty 
on  the  white  pine  admits  southern  i)ine,  <luty  free.  It  is  further  to  be 
hoped  that  southern  governments  mav  learn  a  lesson  from  the  prodi- 
gality of  the  north,  and  preserve  their  most  valuable  timber  for  the 
benefit  and  wellfare  of  the  con\munity,  instead  of  giving  it  away  to 
timber  land  speculators,  or  to  such  an  ignorant  race  of  destruc- 
tionists,  as  have  gobbled  up  the  timber  of  the  north,  or  they  too  will 
Boon  be  dispossessed  of  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  that  Providence 
Las  vouchsafed  their  country. 


>  • 


t   « •  t 

<  >       > 


3 


When  people  talk,  as  they  sometimes  do,  of  the  incxhaustable  for- 
ests of  the  south,  they  little  know  the  sawing  capacity  of  the  northern 
mills,  which  could  in  twelve  months  time  convert  the  whole  merchant- 
able pine  of  the  state  of  Georgia  into  lumber,  and  be  but  six  months 
in  using  up  the  pine  of  Florida:  and  the  men  that  run  these  mills,  not 
only  have  the  will  but  the  greed  to  do  it. 

When  one  considers  the  many  industries  engaged  in  the  various 
processes  involved  in  the  use  of  this  material  and  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  laborers  directly  depending  thereupon  for  their  livelihood 
— and  that  it  is  an  ai  tide  required  by  every  individual  of  the  whole 
community,  one  can  readily  see  that  every  means  should  be  adopted 
for  its  preservation  and  protection. 

While  England  that  has  cheap  coal,  cheap  iron  and  cheap  labor, 
and  that  can  get  her  supplies  at  the  cheapest  rates  from  the  north  of 
Europe,  annually  expends  nearly  $1()0,000,()0()  for  timber,  one  can 
readily  recognize  how  much  it  would  cost  this  country  (that  is  yet  to 
be  built  up)  to  import  its  huuber  from  any  foreign  source.  It  lias 
been  estimated  that  it  Avould  take  the  entire  sailing  tonnage  of  the 
world  to  convey  the  amount  of  timber  annually  consumed  in  this 
country  from  any  foreign  lumber  port.  But  where  to  get  it  at  any 
price  in  the  enormous  quantities  used  in  this  country  is  a  question  that 
would  puzzle  those  best  informed  on  the  subject  to  determine. 

From  the  foregoing  we  recognize  the  truth  of  the  statement  made  by 
a  writer  in   the  accompanying  pages,  wherein  he  says  :     "  No  mork 

VITAL  QUESTION  CAN  COME  HEFOKE  CoNGRESS.  PeRIIAPS  NO  CoNGRESS 
HAS  EVER  BEEN  CALLED  ON  TO  DECIDE  AN  ECONOMIC  QUESTION  OF 
GREATER  MOMENT," 


